Start Your Day With Gratefulness

 

Let’s talk about gratefulness.

OMG this is one of my favorite topics! It makes such a difference in my life.

Gratefulness is all about appreciating the good things in your life. Starting your day by thinking about all the things you have to be grateful for is a great way to set the tone. Practicing gratefulness makes you focus on all the good and pleasant things in your life and that, in turn, improves your overall happiness.

In other words, spending a few minutes early in the morning thinking about what you are grateful for, can improve your mood and your feelings of being happy for the entire day. That’s something well worth perusing and you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it.

Now before I move on, please know that I'm not all touchy-feely and positive all the time. I've been working on this for years and some days, weeks and months have been better than others. I've also been on my best behavior on these posts. I realize there are seriously ugly days and that's where all this work will help. I know this for a fact, because I've been there on some ugly days.

As you are waking up, or while you’re sitting at your kitchen table sipping your first cup of coffee (ahhh, picture it now), think about all the things and people you are thankful and grateful for. Focus your mind on anything positive that happened yesterday or you anticipate happening today. You can be grateful for the smallest of things. I wake up grateful that I have a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in (my bed is the best!) and of course I’m always grateful for a strong cup of coffee that helps me wake up and get ready for my busy day. Think about the people in your life that you are grateful for including your parents, grandparents, spouse, children, friends, colleagues, a boss that gives you a job. Try to find something good about all important people in your life.

Another option is to just look around you. Look at your sunny kitchen, or the trees and birds that you can see outside your window. No matter what your living situation is right now, I’m sure you can think of things about it you are grateful for, even if it isn’t your ideal living space.

THIS is why I created the Firelife Gratitude journal, facebook group and now this challenge. Living in the firelife we hear a lot of ugly. If you are a firefighter, then you are witnessing this ugly as well.

It's very important that we focus on the good things going on in our lives. As wives and family members, if we are focused on the good things going on, we can help our firefighters also focus on them.

Make this grateful exercise part of your morning ritual. Focusing on it, and practicing it at roughly the same time each morning and, if possible, in a similar setting, will help you form a habit. Especially if it is before your firefighters get off shift. It's helpful for you to be in a positive mood when they walk through the door after a shift of ugliness.

The long term goal is to make this a habit. You want to be able to practice being grateful effortlessly and without having to think about it. Getting to that point will have a huge impact on how happy and content you feel from here on out.

Give it a try for a few weeks and take note of how your mental outlook changes by simply adding this little exercise of gratitude in the mornings. Before long, you will do it automatically and won’t want to miss this opportunity to acknowledge all the good things in your life.

I promise, it's weird how the transition happens. And weird in a good way lmao

Let's get happy!

 

PS – this is part of a 30 day challenge, day 4 to be exact. Join the challenge from the beginning and get emails to each day's post. Your future happier self already thanks you 😉