Gratitude Practice of a Simple Mind by Leigh Martinuzzi

Being grateful is one thing, putting it into practice is another. Like anything, the more you practice at something – the greater you become. If you study a foreign language each day for a few hours, you will master that tongue. If you swing golf clubs everyday, soon your handicap will improve. If, however you practice being grateful what then do you become?

For many practices we can usually have a measurable outcome and noticeable improvement. Certainly with simple practices alone will you improve however, if you learn key techniques, you may take that practice to a higher level and with more speed. When it comes to gratitude’s what then is the measure? If then you understand the measure how can you fast track your results from a gratitude practice?

Being grateful is simply being thankful for all that you have. When you become grateful for what you have you become more content in life and less concerned about those things you don’t have. With a focus on only what you desire in life, that you are currently without, you shift consciousness away from the present moment and become less content in life. Living without is a sense of emptiness and this feeling can only cause unhappiness.

The goal then of a gratitude practice is to simple live with greater content, raise your level of appreciation for life and increase your happiness. Being grateful creates more positive emotions that benefit heath, wealth, relationships, self-awareness and love. A simple gratitude practice then has credibility.

A positive focus in life will generally result in positive rewards whereas a negative focus will bring more negative cause. The word alone derives from a Greek word gratia, which means gratefulness but also grace and graciousness. All these meanings you will find in the dictionary yet one that I found gave a particular nice meaning, was grace. Grace can mean simply, smoothness and elegance of movement. Perhaps then with a gratitude practice will we move more smoothly and elegantly through life.

There are many ways to get into a gratitude practice however the most important thing to remember, like any practice, is that you remain disciplined and consistent. If you practiced golf randomly, once or twice a month, your improvement will be less measurable compared to a practice of 5 times a week. The results of gratitude will become noticed more intensely through daily practice.

There are many ways and techniques to be grateful and again, like any practice you must seek continued improvement through learning and also adopting those techniques that seem to benefit you. What works for one may not work necessarily for another, however there are definite consistencies.

Gratitude’s can be shared through spoken word, written word, thought, pray or meditation. These methods assist you to become more aware and present while also allowing you to express your gratitude’s from within. There has been much research done on this topic and proof that being grateful enhances your peace, calmness and overall quality of life.

A successful gratitude practice may not buy you that mansion you dream of, send you on a holiday to Hawaii or get you that new Mercedes but you will likely live a much more successful life than those that have those things and who are without gratitude.

So start by writing down what you are grateful for each day. Don’t think too hard on this. You can be grateful for the rain, the food you have, and experience or opportunity received, your wife or kids. You can be grateful for having two legs, a phone, the juiciness of an orange, a bed, your thoughts, your hair, the club you are within.

If you find a first it difficult to write, then think it. In meditation you may find an opportunity to think about all that you are grateful. Do this in the morning and at night.

Being grateful for people and nature can be expressed in thought and written word but you may also choose to verbalise it. Say it out aloud to yourself, people practice this in pray. Say thank you to someone of whom you are thankful. For what you are thankful doesn’t have to be on a grand scale neither, it may simply be for the smile they gave.

Keep on learning as will I. Keep seeking improvement as will I. Keep constant and remain disciplined. Remember also to be grateful for who you are. Your uniqueness, your poise, your attitude, your heart, will be much easier expressed and received when you are grateful internally.

My gratitude practice of a simple mind.