by Veronica Bowman

Created on: April 04, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Daily Rituals For Expressing Gratitude

Gratitude is the acknowledgment of and appreciation for the good things in your life. I have found that if I keep an attitude of gratitude throughout each day I experience much more personal happiness than if I allow myself to fall into a negative, ungrateful frame of mind.

If I'm having a day when things are not going so well, I make it a point to find a few moments of quiet time to focus my thoughts on something positive in my life. Just that short amount of gratitude time can change the course of a difficult day.

It's good to begin each day by taking a few minutes, even before you get out of bed, to think of at least one thing in your life you are grateful for. If you have trouble thinking of something to be grateful for in the early morning hours, you can at least be grateful for the privilege of being given another day to experience life to the fullest.

I believe that gratitude is the perfect preventative for envy. If you acknowledge the good things in your life and take the time to show grateful appreciation to those who deserve your thanks, you won't have time to sit around being jealous or envious of others. You will know that you are indeed fortunate to be exactly where you are in life.

If you live each day in a grateful frame of mind you will not be burdened by the compulsion to always want more. The best thing you can do for yourself is love the home you are in, respect it, enjoy it, and make it a happy place. Be grateful for your job. Show your spouse, partner or children how grateful you are for the role they play in your life. Thank them for the little things they do that could too easily go unnoticed.

You are surrounded by things each day that you can be grateful for. Nature alone provides a multitude of wonders that you can include in a gratitude list. If you are a pet owner you know that your pet provides you with a constant supply of unconditional love. That is indeed something to be grateful for.

You can establish whatever type of gratitude ritual best fits into your schedule. If you are thinking that the hours of your day are already consumed by too much to do and adding one more thing to your daily schedule is incomprehensible, I can assure that making time for a gratitude ritual will improve your quality of life and raise your level of happiness. My days are busy but I find time for gratitude moments throughout the day. Some of those moments come at the most unexpected times but that just gives me one more

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