Can finding gratitude help us live happier lives? Well, let us ask you a question. If you were told you could do something that would make you feel happier in 30 days time, would you do it?
What about 10 days from now? 2 days? An hour? Or how about 5 minutes from now?
The Magic of Gratitude
Changing our thinking patterns by using gratitude and positive thinking can literally change our lives. Seeing things from a different perspective can open us to new opportunities, including things we may have never considered before.
About Positive Thinking
There are a lot of misconceptions around positive thinking, quite possibly because it hasn’t always been used correctly.
For example, saying, “think positive!” to someone who is depressed or anxious. This isn’t the best way to approach the subject and it can in fact cause more problems. It implies that the person in question can just ‘snap out of it’, when nothing could be further from the truth. Additionally, it can leave an already vulnerable person with feelings of guilt, as though it’s their own fault they’re depressed.
What Exactly Is Positive Thinking?
So what is positive thinking? According to one article we stumbled across recently, all you have to do is: develop positive thinking patterns; remove negative thoughts; create a list; track your thoughts; write those thoughts down; then work out which thoughts work for or against you. And then you must start removing the negative thoughts to replace them with positive ones. Does that sound exhausting to you?
We totally believe in the power of positivity and positive thinking, however, we know that for a lot of people, it all seems like too much hard work. And so they stay exactly where they are, which is a shame because positivity can and does work, if you know how to harness its power properly.
Positive thinking in its basic form is simply having a mental attitude that allows into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conducive to personal growth, expansion and success. It anticipates happiness, health, joy, and a successful outcome, whatever the situation or action.
Whatever the Mind Expects, it Finds
Not everyone believes this, of course, and typical reactions to this statement are: it’s too ‘out there’; it’s for hippies; it’s only for religious people; it’s nonsensical; it doesn’t work; it’s only this, or that. And the biggie, it’s not for me.
Perhaps the answer is to change what we believe positive thinking actually is, and start to thinking instead about what it can be, and do, for us?
Where Does Gratitude Come Into It?
If you start thinking gratitude rather than positive thinking, you may find that things begin to change. We discuss this in detail in Part 2 of Find Your Gratitude & Live a Happier Life.
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