Top 5 Ways to Feel Gratitude in Challenging Times

Life is unpredictable and often very challenging, especially this year. Each day we're faced with obstacles that test our ability to cope with difficulties. It's easy to get angry, scared, or resentful and forget about gratitude for the good things in our life. I would challenge you to look over the past 8 months or so and see where you can find things that happened that you could be grateful for! For myself, I found more time to really work on myself and my business. Before COVID-19 I was spread too thin trying to do too many things all at the same time. Having this extra time allowed me to really focus and spend time doing what will help me grow! I will never be able to express my complete gratitude for this opportunity! So I will pay it forward and help as many people as I can with the gifts I have been given! Now it’s your turn!

If we don't cherish and feel grateful for the good things, how can we justify wanting more of them?

Consider these easy gratitude practices when you need support in challenging times:

1. Include an act of kindness in your day. When we're going through a stressful or difficult period in our life, we get so self-centered and focused on self-pity that we rarely stop to think about others. This is precisely why we need to break away from this negative mindset by doing something kind. Who is the most deserving of my simple act of kindness today? Who has shown me support and love lately? What can I do to honor their support and affection? By being kind and generous to others, you create a greater sense of connection that generates a more positive outlook on life. You feel better about yourself.

2. Say thank you for the little things. When things don't go your way and you feel like a victim of life, it can be extremely hard to feel grateful and notice things to be thankful for. Yet, there are plenty of small joys around you even on the most difficult of days. You can notice them by shifting the point of your focus. What kind of blessings have I received lately? How can I show my gratitude for those blessings? Is there someone who deserves a thank you note from me? Being able to say thank you for the small things helps you in shifting your focus from life's challenges to life's pleasures. This way, your mind expands and supports you in finding solutions and ways to get unstuck and move forward.

3. Re-frame your negativity. Challenging times bring on lots of negativity. If you struggle for any reason, you will likely start to sabotage yourself by creating sadness, falling into despair, evoking regrets, and generating tons of unproductive negative thoughts. Changing your perspective is the best way to re-frame negativity. Remember that everything in life comes in the form of duality. Nothing is purely good or bad. Look at the goodness and benefits in your current struggles and try to learn from them. Negative thoughts only have the power to hurt you if you let them.

4. Keep a gratitude journal. This is likely the most popular gratitude practice. It comes with a variety of benefits, including better quality sleep, increased immunity, greater levels of resilience, and improved mood. All these benefits are needed when you’re going through a tough time in life. To start a gratitude journal all you need is a few moments of undisturbed time, willingness to reflect, and a way to capture your thoughts (notebook, phone, laptop). You can start by reflecting on the following questions: What experiences in my life can I be grateful for? What happened lately that makes me feel thankful? What opportunities do I have today? What have the significant others in my life done that I am grateful for? Writing helps you to organize thoughts, process information and experiences, and supports you in accepting your challenging times by putting them in context.

5. Spread loving kindness. The practice of loving-kindness meditation is designed to emphasize the practitioner's strength and capacity to feel unconditional gratitude. Besides opening your heart to appreciation, this tool is great for building lasting compassion towards yourself and others. Compassion is crucial if you’re looking to reduce stress and overcome obstacles in your life. Loving-kindness meditation serves as a tool for creating unconditional, inclusive love that leads to true wisdom. The love created this way has no conditions and it doesn't need to be deserved in any way.

Everyone struggles, gets stuck, and experiences difficulty. Next time you find yourself having a tough time, remember that crisis is also a wonderful growth opportunity. Embrace the challenge, enrich it with gratitude, and you’ll experience genuine growth.

If you are ready to take your gratitude to the next level, in my private Facebook group “Extraordinary Women” We are doing a 30 day challenge where every day we talk about something that we are thankful for. Click here to join. If that group isn’t for you I will be running the same challenge on my Thankful Hearts Coaching Facebook page too. Pop on over there, like the page, and check in everyday for a new post and a new way to show gratitude. If none of those prompts help you and you are still stuck on how to find gratitude in your life, book a free clarity call with me and let’s see if working together will help you get unstuck. It might be your next best step toward your more thankful, extraordinary self!

Blessing & Love,

Jen

Ways we can work together:

1:1 or Group Coaching Packages

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Mindset Laser Coaching Package--Laser Coaching is different in that the accountability is on the client to fulfill the action steps and schedule the next call. The beauty of laser coaching is you have the option of 6 months or a year and you can schedule as many calls as you want in that time frame, as long as your actions steps are done. Laser Coaching calls are short 30 minute calls designed to get you support when and where you need it most.

Online Courses and Community:

Mindset Masters Program-- Mindset Masters program is an monthly subscription based program to help support, encourage and offer accountability when you need it most. In this program you have access to all my online courses, plus a community of people that are there to give you different perspectives and bounce ideas with.