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Pausing allows gratitude to take place. Gratitude is the gateway to living a happier life!
By Teresa Brenke — Written on Apr 06, 2020
America has a culture of going non-stop with work, family, activities, social life, and keeping up with the immediate demands of a fast-changing world.
And while there are a lot of things causing anxiety during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it's important to look to the good things happening and keep a positive attitude for the sake of your mental health.
The coronavirus pandemic has given us the beautiful gift of pause in an otherwise busy world. Take this crisis as a chance to make learning how to practice gratitude a real habit in your life.
Everyone has had to make adjustments to the new normal.
Each time, you're given the chance to pause and move forward consciously or auto-respond, which often causes a response out of alignment with who you want to be.
The "pause" can look however you describe it.
In order to stay positive, look at this as an opportunity to be grateful.
Gratitude has the potential to dissipate all fears, anger, and sadness when you stop and focus on all that you do have and love it!
Gratitude has to be part of the pause in order to give the pause any power.
The pause is just a silent moment, otherwise.
Gratitude is an amazing gift that is always within you to raise your happiness meter, but it's also a muscle you have to work constantly to keep you healthy and happy.
Here are 8 amazing mental-health benefits of gratitude to remember during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
1. Gratitude shields you from negativity.
When you practice gratitude, you focus on what's good in your life instead of what's going wrong.
Does this mean you won't have negative thoughts? Absolutely not! Those negative thoughts will still be there.
What you need to do is adjust your perspective and learn to see the purpose behind those negative thoughts. Sometimes, the purpose is to protect you, give you time to think, and stand strong.
When you shift your perspective to focus on the good happening in life, you end up shielding yourself from the negative. You empower yourself by being grateful.
2. Gratitude makes you happier.
By appreciating people, things, and experiences, you can better determine who you are and what gives your life purpose. Anyone feeling connected to a purpose will feel more joy and peace in their life.
We are all placed on Earth with a purpose, but sometimes it's not obvious, and this can be frustrating.
By taking time to be grateful, you stop to give yourself time to connect with your true "self" and time to listen to what this self says about you and your purpose.
And the added bonus of focusing on all the good happening around you is going to make you feel happier!
What does this mean? This gives your body a natural high.
Who doesn't want more of that? Isn't that what you search for with your next best thrill, or adventure, or fun with friends? You have access to this every day for free.
This is such a great tool to add to your tool belt on your way to work. (Or maybe before you go to the home office during quarantine).
3. Gratitude eliminates stress.
So often, you go through life and it feels like things are just happening to you. Your negative thoughts can cripple you and make it seem like you're a victim.
Synchronize with life. You are the author. Life is for you, not against you.
The first step is being grateful for all life gives you each day! Don't forget to include little things like food, electricity, clothes, home, water, etc.
Practice this daily, because gratitude is a like a muscle and can become weak if it isn't worked on regularly.
4. Gratitude restores your inner peace.
The serenity in your mind only exists when you're able to see the good around you, especially in trying times.
How is it some people who are less fortunate can find true peace and joy in what they have, and some with excessive amounts of money are miserable?
Because it's not about what you have or the money you make, it's about finding serenity in whatever your circumstances are. Gratitude restores a peaceful mind by being present in the moment.
Since gratitude gets you present in the moment, it's difficult to focus on what you have to do in the future or what you did in the past. This gratitude helps you master harmony in your mind, giving your brain infinite restoration.
This harmony allows you to see clearly your road map to a peaceful mind and invites anything into your life.
5. Gratitude boosts self-esteem and performance.
We all experience stress and trauma, but how you cope with it varies.
Those who focus on being a victim in life, someone who "bad" things happen to, or someone who has to fight to keep what you have, will feel tired and worn out.
It will slowly wear away at your self-esteem and what you believe is possible in life.
When you shift your energy to focus on the positive or be grateful, you'll see all the "good" happening around you and the world feels like it's supporting rather than taking you down.
Gratitude helps you appreciate your positive life experiences.
6. Gratitude enhances the Law of Attraction.
The Law of Attraction invites endless possibilities into your life, giving you the freedom to make anything possible.
You must learn how to surrender to open the door to this endless freedom. Surrender includes playing full out in life while being grateful so you can give up the need to control everything.
7. Gratitude improves relationships.
When you're grateful for the people around you (yes, even the ones who are your pain point), you attract loving relationships.
Like energy is attracted to each other, so you're only able to see in the world what you have inside you.
This means you're reacting to the world that exists in your mind. If you're angry, you'll see anger. If you don't trust, you'll find people cheating you.
But when you see love or give love and gratitude, then you're able to see how much love and gratitude you're getting, too.
8. Gratitude brings joy.
This is my favorite. Who doesn't want more joy in their life?
Even if there was no other reason than this one... it's worth diving into if joy is the end result.
These are some pretty impressive benefits.
Gratitude changes everything and gives you a healthy perspective. And right now with all the fear and anxiety over COVID-19 coronavirus, it's the perfect time to learn how to practice gratitude and be thankful for what you do have in your life.
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Teresa Brenke is a life coach, speaker, and behavior modification expert who focuses on health and wellness. To find out how she can help you, visit her website here.
This article was originally published at CLD Coaching. Reprinted with permission from the author.