In the States, today is Thanksgiving.
A Day Dedicated to Gratitude.
You'll see a lot of Businesses send out messages about how they are Grateful.
Many people will Say who and what they are Grateful for.
All of these are Positive Things.
Science has Proven This.
Gratitude is Extremely Beneficial to our Health.
But, there is a Problem that I Regularly See when it comes to Gratitude.
What is it?
People Do Not Realize that there is More than One Type of Gratitude.
The Vast Majority of Gratitude that is Seen is the Lowest Level of Gratitude.
The Act of Gratitude.
Now, this is Not "Bad" by Any Means.
Gratitude should be Shown through Acts.
Saying Thank You.
Letting People Know What they Mean to You.
Giving Gratitude.
The Problem with this form of Gratitude is that it is a Singular Act.
You Do It.
Then, for most people, that is it.
That is as Far as it Goes.
Yes, it has Benefits, but it is the Minimum Level for Us as Humans.
It is like Checking Off an Item from a Checklist that Really Holds No Force in Our Lives.
You Checked It Off...
But You Do Not "Feel" It.
Why?
Because there is More to Gratitude than the Action Alone.
What other Forms of Gratitude Exist?
Well, the Next Level would be the Emotion of Gratitude.
You can "Say" You're Grateful without "Feeling" Grateful.
Now, if you do the Action Enough, it might eventually Lead to the Emotion.
However, it isn't a Guarantee.
It is actually much Easier to "Feel" the Emotion of Gratitude and then to "Express" it through Action.
It is also Significantly More Powerful to our Health when we Feel It First.
We Live in a World where it is often Frowned Upon to "Express" Your Emotions.
However, that is Unhealthy.
Emotions "Should" be Expressed.
It is important that we Express them in Healthy Ways of course, but Gratitude tends to be Difficult to Express Unhealthily.
So, if you want Gratitude to have a Stronger Impact in Your Life, allow yourself to "Feel" the Emotion Deeply First.
Feel, and then Express through Action.
This will Deeply Improve Gratitude in your Life.
However, there is still a Deeper Level of Gratitude we can Attain.
How do I Know?
Emotions are Temporary.
All Emotions come and go.
You can "Never" Experience "Any" Emotion Forever.
It actually would be Extremely Unhealthy to only have a Singular Emotion.
So, if you only have the Emotion and Action of Gratitude, its Impact Will be Temporary.
So How Can You Go Further?
What is Beyond the Emotion of Gratitude and the Act of Gratitude?
The Mindset of Gratitude.
A Mindset is a way of Approaching "All" Aspects of your Life.
Mindsets can be Experienced Beyond Any Singular Emotion.
Mindsets can "Also" be Experienced "With" Any Emotion.
So How Does this Look?
It is Very Easy to Dedicate a Day, like Thanksgiving, to Allow Ourselves to Experience Gratitude and Give Acts of Gratitude.
But What About the Rest of the Year?
What About On Your Very "Worst" Day?
Can you Experience Gratitude When You are Sad?
You Can.
You can be Horribly Sad, yet be Grateful.
When my Grandfather Passed Recently, I was Deeply Saddened.
Yet, Simultaneously, I was Grateful for the Time, Lessons, and Experiences that I had with my Grandfather.
My Mindset was Focused on Gratitude, even though Emotionally I was Sad.
Can you Experience Gratitude When You are Anxious?
Absolutely.
I get Emotions of Anxiety anytime I put my Work Into the Public.
Whether that is Writing an Article Like This, or Standing and Speaking on a Stage in front of an Audience.
Simultaneously, I am Grateful for the Opportunity to Use My Voice.
I am Grateful to those who Read and Listen to my Words.
I am Grateful that People take it to Heart.
Despite the Emotions that will Surge Through Me, My Mindset is on Gratitude.
What does this do?
It allows you to Experience Gratitude Continually.
You can Gain the Benefits of Gratitude in All Aspects of Life.
During the Ups.
As Well as the Downs.
This is where most people Go Wrong with Gratitude.
It does Not Need to Only be Singular Events.
Gratitude can be Experienced in All Situations.
Do Not Limit Your Gratitude to Today.
Do Not Limit Your Gratitude to Singular Events.
Allow Your Gratitude to Spread into All Aspects of Life.
Walk in Gratitude.
Live in Gratitude.