16 May The Gratitude Poem and Why Being Grateful Makes You Happier

Being Grateful Makes You Happier

Gratitude is a key part of a rich and abundant life.  Being grateful makes you happier.  Everywhere you look, the happiest people are the most grateful ones.  And it’s not because they were born so lucky that they have nothing but blessings to count.  It’s their attitude of gratitude that creates ways for blessings to come into their lives.  They are especially good at fettering out “blessings undercover” – the ones that come to us heavily in disguise yet move our lives in magical directions.

Why Being Grateful Makes You Happier

A gratitude check is the perfect antidote to an attack of kvetching.  When we feel gratitude even for small things, it centers us back to the present moment, the only time and place we can experience actual happiness.  This puts the problem (usually external) in perspective.  Problems are usually far smaller than we originally imagined and temporary, too.

Gratitude is a pleasant feeling in itself and grateful people (those who are skilled at being grateful) are inevitably given more blessings because they recognize them when they arrive. Gratitude is its own reward!

My dad always said, “Don’t think about what you’ve lost. Concentrate on what you have left.”  That is the essence of gratitude.  Complaining puts all the good in our lives before that Big Bad But (Fill In Present Misery Here) which negates it.  “I have a good job but I have to work long hours.”  Try “I’m so grateful I have a good job and the strength to work long hours to get it all done.”  See how gratitude banishes the Big Bad But and celebrates the life you have? Being grateful makes you happier.

Keeping A Gratitude Journal Makes You Happier

Keeping a gratitude journal is a simple way to bring more gratitude into your life.  I love my bound book but others use spreadsheets or even email or text themselves blessings.  Set aside a few minutes a day, set a timer for five minutes and start writing, “Today I am grateful for….”  Your page will be full in no time!

What will you write in your gratitude journal? Mine includes small things like fluffy towels and a clean house but mostly I’m grateful for so many people to love, good health, freedom and tools to write this for you and living on earth in 2012.  No wonder my journal is full!  It’s always there to remind me not to feel sorry for myself because new blessings are always coming. It even inspired me to verse with some help from Dr. Seuss.

The Gratitude Poem

I am so grateful, yes I am!
And I am grateful that I am!

I am grateful in a boat!
I’d be grateful for a goat…
And I am grateful in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
I love this gratitude, you see!

I will be grateful in a box.
And I’ll be grateful for a fox.
And I’ll be grateful in a house.
And I’ll be grateful for a mouse.

And I’ll be grateful here and there.
Say! I’ll be grateful ANYWHERE!

I do so like this gratitude!
Thank you! Thank you, Yes-I-am!