Improve Your Life By Living A Grateful Life

By Bellevue Christian counseling

Many of us are compareaholics and struggle with finding contentment. There’s nothing that robs you of feeling good about your life like comparison. You will always find someone who is better than you, prettier than you, smarter than you, and nicer than you. Why do we put ourselves in this race to achieve and gain when instead we could be enjoying what we have and where we are currently in this present moment. Take a moment right now to notice your surroundings. Where are you? Who are you with? What are you wearing? What are you doing?

Being thankful helps with contentment and can be a sustainable way to change your perspective on life. We all have good and bad days and if our perspective in life is dependent on how things are going it’s hard to be thankful. A thankful mindset gives a new perspective on life. When we are thankful, we are able to be grateful for what comes our way, small or big, good or bad. We can be thankful for unexpected traffic because it gives us a minute to take deep breaths and think about our day. We can be thankful that we have other clothes to change into when we spill on a shirt. We can be thankful for a stressful day at work remembering that we have a job to go to.

Being thankful stops us from taking daily things for granted. There is so much that happens in our life that we are not aware of because we are not on the hunt for things to be grateful for.

Being thankful will not only improve your attitude but it will also improve your relationships. The people around you will notice your new attitude and find it contagious. It is much more pleasant to be around someone who is grateful than someone who is complaining. You could start a thankfulness trend.

We are encouraged to be thankful in the Bible. Psalm 118:1 says “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It’s God’s will for us to be thankful. While it might seem overwhelming at first to change your perspective, being thankful can start with small steps. Thankfulness can help us to see outside of our present circumstances.

Make a thankful list. This is a great way to keep track of specific things that you are thankful for and to see how many things in your life you can be thankful for. In her book One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp challenged herself to come up with one thousand things that she was thankful for. She gives this insight in her book, “The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who learned this knows what it means to live.” Creating a thankful list allows us to be grateful for what we have and allows us to find contentment and joy in our daily lives.

As we head into the holiday season, now is a great time to practice the art of daily thankfulness for what you have and for who is in your life. If you are struggling with finding contentment or feeling dissatisfied with life, Christian counseling can help you to explore what’s going on in your life.

Images cc: fredigitalphotos.net: Light Path by Dan and Thank you by Felixco, Inc.