I was first introduced to the practice of Gratitude in 2019 when a friend of mine told me to buy a book called "The Secret".
I placed the order on Amazon but to my surprise, I had ordered a blank book —which I would later find out was a Gratitude book. Due to the disappointment of ordering an empty book I left it in my drawer and moved on with life.
Years went by and I eventually became a Qualified Personal Trainer, taking on the challenges of self-employment. At the time, things weren't going exactly the way I had planned, which is what led to me revisiting the book I had left abandoned in my draw...
I took an Ikea Pencil and wrote down a list of things I was Grateful for as the book instructed— nothing fancy, just the simple things in life we often overlook: health, family, friends, food & clothes etc. The plan was to do this daily but like most new habits I struggled with consistency.
Overtime I was able to make it a daily practice and from 2021 it's something that has been reminder that helps navigate me to a positive headspace. So much so, that I wanted those around me to experience it too. I started by telling friends and family about the practice, helping others adopt the habit.
Fast forward to 2022 and I decided to start my first Gratitude groupchat! It was a Whatsapp group where we all shared a list of things we were grateful for on a daily basis. People from all walks of life shared their lists, and one thing I noticed along the way was, more often than not, most people's lists are quite similar — regardless of age, race or religion...
Reading what others were grateful for, and being able to relate to those things made us collectively aware that, sometimes the simple things in life truly matter the most and have the biggest impact.
I currently launch a group every other month and even released my very own Gratitude books so people can have a physical log that they can look back on in years to come (I still have my very first book to this day).
So far, I have helped around 100 people from my family and friends get into the practice of Gratitude and am always grateful for those who have joined me on this journey.
Living in a fast-paced world makes it easy to get distracted by everything happening around us, and comparison can quickly become the thief of joy. Thankfully, the practice of Gratitude can counter this. For me, it's is a constant reminder that I am more than enough— just as I am— and am fortunate to have an abundance of things going for me in life.
What are you Grateful for today?
Spend 1 minute writing down a list (Can be 3 things) of a few things and see how you feel after repeating this process over the space of a month!
Gratitude is a must!