Gratitude is a topic that comes up throughout life. You notice ungrateful children or friends. But how to keep from becoming ungrateful?
While everyone will experience ingratitude and selfishness from time to time, it’s helpful to make gratitude a daily habit and combat an attitude of ingratitude.
What is Gratitude?
Dictionary.com describes the term “grateful” as “warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful”.
Being grateful is also a theme that comes up throughout the Bible in numerous ways. Because of this, I think it’s beneficial to consider the impact gratitude can have in our lives.
3 Good Things Exercise
I think the “3 Good Things” exercise is a simple and effective way to cultivate gratitude.
The premise of this exercise is to reflect on 3 good things that happen to you throughout the day and why you are grateful for them.
In my own experience, I have found that taking a few minutes to focus on what is going well can keep me from getting too negative about situations or people.
Why cultivate gratitude?
Research shows it’s good for you
I break this down further here, but there has been some research that shows that cultivating gratitude actually makes us feel better.
The organization Positive Psychology promotes an exercise called “3 good things” to encourage a habit of expressing gratitude.
Bible encourages it
There are many passages urging believers to practice gratitude toward God.
What do we have that isn’t from God?
Psalms 136:1 – Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever
2 Corinthians 4:15 – All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 2:7 – rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
These verses not only command us to be grateful for God Himself, but also for everything He has given us.
How to cultivate daily gratitude
These systems are options for introducing the “3 Good Things” exercise to your daily routine.
Checklist method
Remind yourself each day by planner or phone.
Having a place to write down your gratitude list is very useful. It can be a doc on your phone or a physical journal. Whatever is easiest for you to remember and access is the best option for you!
System method
Some ideas for this include sharing your 3 good things at dinner with your family or building it into a certain part of your day like your commute to work.
The system that works for me is tracking my list in my planner. I have a planner with ample space for each day to allow for my list. Since I’m always referencing my planner, I see it and usually remember to write down my “3 good things”.
Another thing I personally love about this system is that it serves as a journal of my year. I write things down that I don’t normally track in my planner, so I can see what I was thinking and feeling throughout the year.
Create a framework to help you
3 random things to be grateful for can be difficult to go on. I have created a framework of 1 thing I’m grateful for about God, about my husband, and something going on in life.
Some examples to use for your framework include:
- God
- Significant other
- Friends
- Family
- Roommates
- Pets
- Hobbies
- Job
Reflect on the impact of having daily gratitude
Every 6 months or a year, reflect on the things that you have been grateful for.
I go through my planner at the end of the year to reflect on what happened, what I was feeling, what went well, what went not-so-well, etc. It’s a really sweet time to see where the Lord has taken me through life.
Have you noticed an impact on your mental well-being and outlook on life? Is there something you have struggled to feel grateful for, even if you know you “should”?
What to do if you don’t feel like being grateful?
Act on the decision to cultivate gratitude
Maybe you don’t feel grateful, but there are good things in your life that you can recognize
I rarely feel grateful – I’ve often had to look at the verses from a devotional to think of something to be grateful about God
Sometimes my “general” item or thing for my husband is very shallow
Being a bit of a homebody, one of the things I consistently write is “having a free night”.
However, I know that choosing gratitude in each small thing does have an impact on my overall attitude toward my life and the people and situations in it. I hope you experience the same thing!
What has helped you cultivate an attitude of gratitude?
