How to be more grateful: 7 useful tips

Several guidelines and recommendations to enhance the personality trait of kindness.

Gratitude is a value that may seem to be getting lost. Even though saying "thank you" costs nothing, people seem to find it difficult, uncomfortable and annoying.

For others it is not that word that is difficult, but showing that they feel gratitude for what you have done for them. But they should, because our parents, siblings, friends, neighbors... all of them have on more than one occasion done something for us.

It is time to be more thankful for things, both in words and gestures. That is why we are going to see some strategies that will help us to be a little more thankful in our daily life. in our day to day.

How to be more grateful

It is not very difficult to be grateful, and its own dictionary definition proves it. According to the DRAE, a grateful person is one who is thankful, that is, who shows gratitude and gives thanks. It's as simple as that: to be grateful is to to give thanks for the good things that happen to us in life, both the smallest and the most significant.. It costs nothing to be grateful in this life, and in fact it is good for us.

Being more grateful makes us happier, since it makes us value as more important those good things that happen to us instead of putting so much focus on the bad. This style of thinking is just the opposite of many, since most of us mortals cannot escape the negativity bias, an effect (or trap depending on how you look at it) that makes us put more weight on the negative things that happen to us, belittling or even ignoring the positive ones.

Changing the way we relate to others, thanking them for being there or simply valuing more the little things that happen to us can be a very good way to attract happiness and emotional stability to our lives. Happiness and health go hand in hand, and gratitude is a powerful magnet for both.So to achieve this, let's learn a few strategies that will teach us how to be more grateful.

1. Keep a journal

Our first tip is to keep a journal about the good things that happen to us. Writing down all the positive things that we feel grateful for is very beneficial as it is a very useful is very beneficial as it is a very good way to combat the aforementioned negativity bias.

It doesn't matter if we do it in a notebook or on the computer. The idea is to write down everything good that happens to us, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant it may seem. Doing so encourages a positive thinking style, making less and less cognitive effort to detect the good events present in our lives.

It is enough to dedicate between 5 and 10 minutes to put what have been those things that have made us feel good and that we are grateful that they have occurred.. It is necessary to commit to do it, something that at the beginning will cost us a little bit but with the passage of time it will become a totally automated habit.

2. Don't avoid negative things

This advice may surprise us, but it makes sense. We usually associate gratitude with the good, focusing only on the good and completely ignoring the bad.

However, the key to being more the key to being more grateful is to assume that there will be setbacks, that sometimes we can't avoid them.Sometimes we can't avoid them and, although a bit annoying, they can even help us to appreciate even more the good that happens to us.

Let's look at it this way: Haven't bad things happened to us in the past and then we overcame them? Remembering them also reminds us of how we overcame them, seeing ourselves capable of facing difficulties and achieving success.

3. Appreciate the little things in life.

There are many small moments in our daily lives that, although they may seem unimportant, influence our well-being.. Getting a seat on the subway, the toast falling on the side of the bread or our pet greeting us effusively when we get home are little things for which we should be grateful.

But in addition to being grateful for these moments, we can also help others to be aware of them and appreciate them as well. Return every token of kindness they offer you, and thank them for it, even if it is just a simple compliment.

4. Help others

Help others, it costs nothing and they will almost always thank you for it. Grateful people not only thank you for what you do for them by saying it, but also by giving it back.

Likewise, we don't need to have been done a favor before to help others.. Volunteer, offer to make other people's day better. Gratitude is contagious and helping others is the best way to awaken gratitude in others.

5. Be grateful for the life you have been given.

How can you be grateful for the life you have been given? Some of us may see it as a bad thing while others see it as just the opposite, but this is because we live it because we are grateful for it.But this is either because we live it first hand or we compare it to the lives of those we think live better than we do.

What if we compare it with those who live worse? How many people in this wide world live in abject poverty? How many go hungry? There are those who do not even have a bed to sleep in.

Having a house, a family, friends, work... Even the simple fact of living in a place where you don't have to look at the sky every day to see if a bombing is coming. There are many misfortunes that occur in the world that we have never had the misfortune to experience, and most likely will never experience.

6. Appreciate the lives of your loved ones

Many people have lost their entire family in some conflict or natural disaster. Others have lost them to the sad but inevitable passage of age and death. You may have already lost someone important in your life, but you still have others.

Cherish the lives of your loved ones, be thankful that they are still alive and in good health.. No one's life is guaranteed, no one knows what may happen tomorrow, if they may die because they have crossed paths with the wrong person on the street. From life to death there is only a moment's difference.

7. Keep in touch with your loved ones

When was the last time you called your grandparents? And your parents? It's about time, don't you think? Calling your loved ones regularly is a sign of appreciation, that you value them, and they will also be more likely to call you in the future.And they will also feel more likely to call you in the future.

You can also visit them, send them messages, letters or even gifts, something to show that you don't forget them and that you value them. If necessary, take charge of family reunions, organize them so that the whole clan can meet.