How Practicing Gratitude And Self-Love Changed My Life Forever
If you practice gratitude a little, your life will change a little. If you practice gratitude a lot, your life will change a lot.
In 2018, I was in a very dark place. My husband was suffering from depression, and our marriage and family life has suffered too. It was then that I decided to join a coaching community. And that decision changed my life forever.
There are two practices I’ve learned that made a huge impact on my life, gratitude and self-love. Let me tell you how these two changed the trajectory of my life.
What Is Gratitude?
In the English dictionary, gratitude is showing appreciation, being thankful, and acknowledging blessings in life. Aside from that, there are three definitions of Gratitude I’ve learned from my personal coach.
Being Grateful In All Times And Circumstances
Gratitude is not just being thankful for the good times, but it’s also learning to be grateful for the hard times.
2.Being Grateful For The Positive Growth Of The People Around You
It’s easy to be grateful when good things happen to us. But to be genuinely grateful, you should extend this feeling to the people around you. Be happy for others' success and joys. Celebrate with them, and be thankful for them.
3. Gratitude Is A Verb
Gratitude is not just expressing it in words, rather it’s also about showing it with your actions. There’s power in words, but like the popular saying, action speaks louder than words.
A pillar learning of my growth has been gratitude. Back then, as I experienced personal growth, I began to appreciate and be grateful. At first, it was really hard for me to believe it until I started practicing it.
Scientifically, there has also been research proving the effects of gratitude. When you practice gratitude, your brain releases dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that are responsible for emotions. They enhance your mood and make you happy inside. And if you feel happy, it improves your life and even generates longer life expectancy.
How Can You Cultivate Gratitude?
I’ve learned that one way to cultivate gratitude is to write. You can write a letter to yourself, friend, family, or anyone you’re thankful for. This way you can count your blessings and spread kindness. Keeping a journal, writing about three things that you are thankful for everyday. And the simplest but most powerful way is smiling as often as you can.
It is also important to be authentic, to be genuine in expressing gratitude. Real gratitude is not forced. Real gratitude can create a huge impact on your outlook in life.
What Is Self-Love?
Initially, self-love sounded fake to me. As a child, I was bullied for being dark, thus it was difficult for me to love myself. Joining the coaching community taught me this. Learning to love yourself is very important. To be able to love others, you have to love yourself first. But, how do you practice self-love?
Again, you need to write about self-love. Write about the first things that come to mind about self-love, then write things you love about yourself. Writing is just the first step, the next step is more important, take time to reflect on what you wrote. Then there are other things you can write about, like self-worth, all these points to loving yourself.
Lastly, write a letter to your younger self. Start off with gratitude, then keep writing about your struggles, regrets, hurt, reminders… Everything that you wished your younger self should have known. Reflect and see where this takes you. Then end your letter with affirmations. Affirm positivity in your life and let go of the negative things that are holding you back.
Writing is a way of expressing how you feel. The bottled up emotions can be released through writing and can make someone feel better. After that, you can reflect and make the commitment that can change your life.
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