Almost everyone on this planet has been told to be grateful. In fact, we have an entire holiday around this. Do you find it difficult to be grateful on tap? I know I do. So, I wanted to share some thoughts about when your gratitude isn’t flowing. Practicing gratitude is not a one-time event, or a week, and not a holiday, I think it is a mindful practice of training our brains to look for things, moments, and people in which to practice gratitude.

Oxford Languages calls gratitude the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

My friend Staci Danford always shares about scientific gratitude and the positive effects on one’s life as well as health. One thing that she always shares is sitting with the thought about what you are grateful for at least 30 seconds.

I really love how it feels when I can practice gratitude and wanted to share my practice. In the morning I have my quiet time to set my intentions for the day. If I happen to miss it because I woke up late no problem, I can return to this ten minutes anytime. In this quiet time, I list three things I am grateful for and sit with the thoughts. I place my hand over my heart and imagine that there is a red glowing connection between my heart and my hand. It’s important that one of the items is super simple. This sets my RAS (Reticular Activating System) to look for more items to be grateful for. A win-win for me.

As I reflect upon my life, I can see where every time I was troubled about the way my life turned out in some areas I was being protected. In fact, I am very grateful for many things, even the ones that didn’t work out as I originally wanted.

So, practicing gratitude can look very differently for each of us and that’s okay.

—Kristina Dennis, life coach