Gratitude is similar to appreciation but on a deeper level and more impactful to bring well being and positivity in one’s life, when we practice gratitute we simply say yes to life, we accept that life worth living because it has many things to look forward, it makes you fall in love with you, Gratitute can be both a state and a trait, we can either appreciate something for a time when it brings goodness to you, it can be a person, place or simply an activity or just the nature itself, on the other hand oce can practice gratitute forever and keep an appreciating and thankful nature towards life and everything associated with it.
Gratitute is simple but powerful tool to win the life, it is a state of mind where a person become optimistic and always sees goodness in things irrespective of situation and it’s effect on him, it is basically the state of mind which has already accepted the famous qoutes from bhagad geeta that everything happens for a good reson everything will happen for a good reason we just need to accept all the changes with open heart, it is the state of beings where a person becom almost super consious and develop a sense of thankfulness towards every thing, either it is person, tree, river mountain etc and it is almost a miracle which fill your life with positivity and bliss.
It is the openess of person towards the process and he who is a believer of the quote that” trust the proces” even in hinduism there is many incidents in mythology where it is said that the destiny of the process they call it “bidhi ka bidhan” is the greatest of all, in many other religion it is said that be like a staw floating in the river and move in the direction of it’s flow do not try to fight it. It simply means go with the flow, and enjoy every aspect of life, because the problem is the more we try to control it t, he more it creates a burden and makes life resentful. Gratefulness is not a therapy or wellness practice to be followed, but a simple truth of life need to be accepted and incorporated,
What Is the Gratitude Algorithm?
Because we are so much into worldly comparison that we unknowingly develop a lacking mindset , we have almost forgotten the concept of abundance, we keep complaining about things which we do not have rather than being thankful to the things which we already have, we always compare our life our achievements with others and in doing so we almost forget what we already have, this is not as simple as looks this has a very drastic effect on our life, if we do not acknowledge our belongings or what life has already given to us and keeping looking towards things which we do not have at that time, we are silently or unknowingly disrespecting the things which we have at everything has this tendency to go away from a person or place where it is not respected, hence in order to achieve something we ignore and eventually loose what we already have, see it like this, you do not ignore or start loving less to your first child just because you are trying to have a new child, and the same is applicable to life anything which is already with you should be acknowledged, adored and respected rather than keep sicking something which you do not have.
By saying so I do not mean you should not be progressive but you should be consciously progressive, it helps you to succeed in life in a better way leaving no guilt of loosing something in the hustle of life, it is our full right to live the life in it.s best possible way, but it doing so being so much involved into the future that we almost forget the present is not a wise way to live.
So we should not do future planning? Yes we should do but not get too much attached with that plan because it is just our plan which is in it’s all possible state and our hard work and manifestation will make it happen and the hard work comes by not constantly worrying about the result and the best way to manifest something is being thankful to things you already have and simultaneously seeking things which can be added to make your life wholesome, here it means seeking new things in a way that old things does not feel discarded.
Here again, a famous quote from Bhagavad Gita comes into picture that what today is yours was someone’s yesterday and will belong to someone else again tomorrow; it means whatever you have, keep it with gratitude, love and compassion, and when it is the time to let it go, just release it gracefully.
For more evidence-based research on gratitude and well-being, explore these trusted resources: Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley
Are we really Ready to start gratitude, and can we start immediately?
Yes or maybe not it depends on your honesty and how much do you know yourself, because it should not become a task that you have to be grateful for everything in your life, but it should be coming from within, it should be flowing from you, it should reside in you like there is no effort in being thankful to something, it should seem that it is not something you are doing separately but it is already within us and it comes automatically from within, without any strategy, without any rule book, without any guidance.
I am saying so because our mind is very cleaver once we decide to start practice gratitude it will show you multiple ways to do so and will give you a short term feel of so, called good person, you will feel like you are doing a lot just by verbally saying thank you to something and slowly it will make you more pathetic because a feeling of being good person but not being the one from within is very dangerous and surprisingly not much for the society but to you, it will create a big hindrance to your journey towards a mindset of abundance from the lack, because a deceptive mind will keep telling you that you have this we thankful say thank you for everything that you have but keep seaking other things which is coming in your mind in form of desiry from the worldy comparison, and you know what is the magic of this deception it is not just limited to things, slowly it becomes your habit and you start doing the same in your relationship, you may start comparing your parner from others , you may start your relationship with others and all these comparison arises from tha lacking mindset, hence even though you are practicing oy you boast of practicing the gratitude you are not getting rid you lacking mindset then there is something wrong with the practice and you are in the deception of mind.
Another thing the mind does to you is that it imposes a burden of being thankful and limits your ability to be thankful only to the good things; it makes you so weak and impatient that you lose control over a small inconvenience and start criticizing life.
The mind is too good at following the trend. Once these things came into trend like loving kindness, practicing gratitude, affirmation etc, our mind started his job and made this deceptive layer around us, nowadays most of these things practiced by a person is either strategy or trend or maybe the lust and desire to be the best person in the room that this person is kind, he is practice gratitude etc, all these are again arising from the ego and a product of lacking mindset, now think how can you get rid of lacking mindset by following a path which is the product of running mindset, hence the practice of gratitude is not the problem the problem is the driving force, the reason.
Hence, we have come up with a few steps to introduce Gratitude in your life, not only into words but into actions and intentions as well.
Steps to Practice Gratitude with Intentions :
- Observation: The first and basic thing we can do to start practicing gratitude is that we can observe our thoughts and actions in day to day life, do we say thank you after every good things happen to us, how much we do complain about the bad things which happens to us, in many incidents we have this habit of saying thank you after everything someone does, now in such scenario we need to focus on our thank yous that is it coming out of habit, are be absent minded while saying so are we just saying so because we have been tought to do so and now it has been in our memory and always comes subconciously. After doing this observation, you will understand that most of the time we just say it for the sake; we do not even mean it. Hence, the next time you get an instinct to say thank you to something, just pause for a minute and rethink: are you really grateful for this act, is it coming from your heart, or are you just doing it out of courtesy? Also ask yourself: how long will this gratitude last? Will it turn to a curse when the same person does any mistake?
- Keep a gratitude journal: Establish a daily practise where you remind of all the good things happening around you, you can do it in night and recall all the things which has happended and you can say thanks to persona, place or just universe for everything they have provided, along with good things, keep all bitter experience and observe it as a whole not only from your perspective then you will definitely get a good reason to be thankful, this is just limited towards basic confusion arises and be feel bad about it but not the things which is completely miserable and mischieves that people do or any sin people commit.
- Watch your language: It is very important to keep a watch on one’s language in the journey of practing gratitude, because sometimes we unknowigly keep cursing life, keep criticising anything that we already have, we may try to practice gratitude the whole day but at the same time unknowigly we may keep critizing the things we have or maybe we keep showing disappointment towards what life has already given to us.
- Watch your posture and gesture: It is also very important to watch your gesture and posture when you are showing gratitude towards something, maybe by practice you get a good hold on your words and you say it conciously but is it really coming from within, if yes then no issue if no then it will for sure reflect in your body and face that is why in many culture along with prayer few steps are involved to involve the complete you only the body or not only the mind.
- Write letters or notes: Writing is one of the purest forms of showing gratitude. You can write a letter or a note to someone you are thankful to.
- Gratitude meditation: While practicing daily meditation, we must make some time for it, and while in the meditation pose, give 5 minutes to the things which we are grateful for. We can just go through the entire body with closed eyes and be thankful for everything that is well functioning and helping us in day-to-day life.
- Gratitude Jar: It is also a good way to showing gratitude by keeping a jar and putting a hand written note every time you feel grateful about something, it can be anything, the air blowing through your face, the water you are drinking, the tree which is giving you shade, your parent to give you life, or the god to keep you in good condition both physically and mentally, you can just write notes and put it in the jar with a feeling that it will reach to them.
Final Thoughts on the Gratitude Algorithm
We have seen how much the practice of gratitude is essential for our well-being and keeping positivity in our lives; we have understood the importance and the challenges, as well as how to practice it. It is time we start practicing it from today and bring positivity and well-being into our lives.
If you’re on a journey of self-growth and mindfulness, these articles can help you deepen your practice:
- Mindfulness Journey: Build Spiritual Awareness Without Religion (use this when talking about observing thoughts and meditation)
- Loving Kindness (Metta): How Compassion Can Transform Your Life (perfect after the gratitude section)