I invite you to contemplate this question for a moment: What is the biggest cause of unhappiness?

Maybe you say a lack of money, a lack of a loving partner, a lack of a body you can feel proud of when you look in the mirror, a lack of some other thing you so desperately want… In my experience, the biggest cause of unhappiness is a lack of gratitude.

So many people fall into the pattern of taking life – and everything in it – for granted. Instead of focusing on all they do have, they focus on all they don’t have. Thinking that if they just get more of what they want, then they’ll be happy. But life doesn’t work that way.

All you need to do to feel happy, is to be grateful. And that’s something every single one of us can do.

Today on I Love Me the Podcast, you’ll learn that practising gratitude doesn’t need to be an arduous task. You don’t need to write out gratitude lists every day… Nope. Being grateful can be one of the easiest, and quickest ways of living happily right now.

 

The age-old practice of gratitude for me, stands out as one of the most effective ways of practising self-love.

Because not only do we feel good when we’re in a state of gratitude, we’re essentially saying to ourself and to the world around us, that we are enough.

Life is enough.

Just as it is.

So while saying ‘thank you’ can feel like such a small gesture in the whole scheme of things, when we let ourselves really feel grateful for what we’re given, what we have, and all that we are, this changes our overall enjoyment of life.

So with World Gratitude Day happening this Saturday, I felt it only appropriate that we take some time to visit this simple, yet extremely effective practice in self-love.

Gratitude.

And if you’re on a quest for inner happiness, then gratitude may just be the perfect short-cut.

So, let’s gain a clearer understanding of what gratitude actually is…

Gratitude is a positive emotional response that involves recognising and appreciating the good in one’s life.

It’s much deeper than simply being grateful for big milestones or achievements…

It’s about appreciating ALL of life – EVERYTHING you are given on ALL levels – and not taking them for granted.

In this way, gratitude is a positive state of being.

What I love about gratitude, is that it turns what little we may feel we have in life, into great abundance.

You see, in shifting our attention away from the perceived deficits in life, gratitude instead allows us to focus on the abundance that exists.

The more we do this, the more we’re offered a powerful antidote to the dissatisfaction that so many people experience on a daily basis.

So while we start with a simple ‘thank you’, practising gratitude is much more than these two little words.

It changes our whole perspective on our world.

How?

When we focus on what we have, rather than what we lack, we’re able to cultivate a mindset that appreciates the present circumstances.

And when we can enter into deep appreciation of where we’re at in life, then we can experience genuine happiness.

Now you may say – this all sounds great in theory, but what about all the things I actually don’t have?

In a world that teaches us to want more and more, it’s very easy for our ego to find a way to convince us that we’re lacking in some way.

We may feel that we don’t stack up, or are missing out, if we don’t have that latest ‘thing’ that everyone else seems to have.

The problem is, this quest for happiness often leads us down the path of perpetual ‘wanting’.

There will always be more that we could have.

Always.

The question we need to ask ourself is:

What is this feeling of lack – and allowing ourselves to sit in this feeling of lack – what is that giving us?

Chances are, it’s giving us a less satisfying life.

A feeling of always being behind, or not where we want to be.

And that isn’t healthy for anyone’s mindset.

It only serves to make us feel down on ourself, and in many cases is the precursor to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

When we focus on lack we see the world in a very negative light.

And this changes how we interact with the world.

Our habits, our behaviours; they all reflect how lacking or abundant we feel.

If we focus on lack, and the feeling that we need more of something; more clothes, more money, more love, more community, more more more…

This disconnects us from appreciating what we already have.

When we start to live in the energy of ‘lack’, then we start to live a life of lack.

The more one focuses on lack, the more lack one will experience.

A lack mentality is like tunnel vision, that doesn’t allow us to see all the opportunities available for us to experience abundance.

And so we stay stuck in this perceived world of lack.

Like in this teaching in the scripture the Torah:

‘You do not see the world as it is. You see the world as you are.’

What this is saying, is that the lens upon which we perceive the world, through gratitude or through lack, changes our experience of the world.

So then it makes sense that we would want to shift our focus from lack to abundance, right?

For the more we have to be grateful for, the more generous life gets.

As I teach in many of my programs, in order to manifest the life you want to live, you need to start with being grateful for the life you already have.

When we feel grateful we put out the vibe of ‘I have everything I need, I am abundant’.

And it’s that very feeling – that energy of feeling full – that allows in more of what we want.

In this way, being grateful for what we already have, is one of the key tools in manifesting.

And if you want to learn more about manifesting, have a listen to Episode 22: When manifesting becomes a way of life.

Ok, so let’s dive deeper into why someone might want to start practising gratitude…

Practising gratitude has been shown to help people sleep better, enjoy higher rates of happiness and lower rates of depression, they seem to be more resilient and enjoy deeper relationships.

Scientific studies have shown those who kept a gratitude journal reported fewer health complaints.

And one study even noted that young adolescents who practised gratitude showed lower levels of materialism and a greater sense of satisfaction with life and the community.

So while gratitude as a practice is grounded in many cultural traditions, we can now see that it’s being validated by modern psychological research, as a really powerful practice in relation to a person’s overall wellbeing.

Now beyond the numerous studies conducted on the positive effects of practising gratitude, is the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto.

If you haven’t heard of him, this Japanese scientist dedicated his life to studying water, and how water changes, depending on the words that are spoken to it.

What Dr Emoto found, was that when a water sample was exposed to positive words, such as ‘Thank you’ that it would form a very different type of crystal when frozen, to that of negative words like ‘Stupid’.

The ‘Thank you’ crystals were balanced and well formed, while the ‘Stupid’ crystals were deformed and broken.

Given we are around 70% water, this is essentially what happens to us.

If we’re saying and thinking positive thoughts and feeling positive feelings – like gratitude – the water structures within us will be healthier, which starts to help us understand how feeling grateful, can drastically effect our physical health and wellbeing.

I’ll do a whole episode on Dr. Emoto’s work at some point, but you can see photographs of these water crystals inside his books and on this website.

Two of my favourite books of his are:

The Healing Power of Water and The Miracle of Water.

Interestingly, Dr Emoto shares that, the most beautiful crystal he ever photographed, was from water that was exposed to love and gratitude.

What does this tell us?

That practising gratitude might just be one of the most healing practises we can do, for both our mind and our body.

As the molecular structure of the water in our body changes, so too do our cells come into better communication with each other.

If you’ve taken time to only think of thoughts of love and gratitude you’ll know first hand, that you feel different.

You feel positive, at ease… healed.

When you continue to think this way with thoughts of love and gratitude it changes you, for the better.

That’s why this week I invite you to practise being grateful.

And maybe when you’re about to take a sip of your tea or glass of water, perhaps you might like to say ‘Thank you’ to the water.

Show a little gratitude for the water that is about to enter your body, and has the ability to transform your inner workings.

Ok, so we know that one of the most powerful tools to change our chemical cocktail and lift our vibration is to practice gratitude.

How do we do that?

With simple, daily acknowledgements.

That’s right, start small.

Each day, find one thing you’re grateful for.

Just one, is all you need.

You may like to make a specific time when you think of this thing you’re grateful for, such as while you’re eating breakfast or when you go for your afternoon walk.

Tying these little practices to an activity you already do each day, can be a way of easily slipping a mini gratitude practice into your schedule.

Or if you find yourself fixating on something you wish wasn’t happening in your life…

Take a moment to pause…

And then switch it up – find something to be grateful for.

It doesn’t need to be huge.

Being grateful for your warm cup of tea, or how snug and comfortable your slippers are, or the fact that you found this free podcast to help guide you into a more loving way of being…

These are all perfect things to be grateful for.

Once you find the thing to be grateful for, then don’t rush to move onto the next thing in your day.

Be with the feeling of gratitude for a minute, or three.

Feel if permeate your being.

Let the experience of gratitude fill your heart, and let it overflow into your body and being, so it can spill out into the world around you.

When we can feel gratitude, as opposed to simply think of things to be grateful for, we change neurotransmitters in our brain, so that we start to naturally be more grateful.

And this is so helpful if you’re someone who has an inclination to always think in terms of lack or are someone who complains a lot about your circumstances.

The more we practise gratitude, the more we see our glass as half full.

And the more we see our glass as half full, the more we start to experience our glass as half full.

The reason for this is…

Gratitude and a feeling of lack, cannot co-exist.

When you’re experiencing a lack mentality, and you introduce gratitude, it soaks up that feeling of lack.

The feeling of lack is no longer there, as it’s been replaced by a feeling of gratitude.

This makes practising gratitude one of the quickest and easiest ways of changing one’s mental state.

You feel like life is serving you moth balls…

What do you do?

You invite in gratitude for something that is going well, or something that you do have.

And it can be something small.

I’m grateful for this beautiful sunny day.

I’m grateful for the feel of the grass on my bare feet.

I’m grateful I have a job to pay the bills.

Maybe I don’t love my job right now.

But you know what, it’s helping me get by, and the more I appreciate it for what it offers me, the more I get into the happy, confident state that will allow me to welcome in a new job, that is more suited to what I like to spend my time doing.

Bills are a big one that people often feel dread around.

‘Oh… a bill came in.’

The truth is, you’re paying for a service.

Having electricity, having running water… these are all things to be grateful for, as they make life easier and more enjoyable.

So next time a bill comes in, instead of focusing on what’s going out – money – focus on what you received for that money.

As you pay your bill, say to yourself: ‘Thank you for the electricity you provided me this month.’

This will completely change your state.

And we want a positive state because the way we manifest, is through how we feel.

If we’re feeling happy, loving vibes, thanks to being more grateful, then we attract in more things to be grateful for.

In this way, being grateful is one of the keys of manifesting the life we want.

Like attracts like.

Gratitude is an abundant state to be in.

If you want to be more abundant, then practising gratitude is a key part of that journey.

And when we’re in a positive state of mind, we start to see all the opportunities available to us.

Opportunities that are often missed when we’re stuck in a lack mindset.

Because remember, what we see is a reflection of what we’re being.

I talk in depth about this in my Money and Me course – where I teach people how to come into a healthy relationship with money, so they can attract in greater abundance – because a key part of wealth creation, is being able to be grateful for what we already have.

Just as it’s a key part of attracting in more of anything we want in our lives.

So… we start by practising gratitude.

Like I said, you may choose to focus on being grateful for something new each day.

Or perhaps when you notice yourself in a lack mentality, you change your focus to something you can feel grateful for instead.

At some point, on your ‘practising gratitude journey’ you’ll feel a shift.

A shift from ‘practising’ gratitude, to ‘allowing’ gratitude to become a way of ‘being’.

Then gratitude becomes less of something we need to do or practice, but an experience we get to choose in each moment.

Being in a state of gratitude for our life, and for the things that happen within that life, is such a beautiful way to live.

Not only does it change our mood, and make us feel better.

Because we feel better, it raises our personal vibration or energy so we can attract in more of what we love.

We become more of a pleasure to be around.

The truth is:

There is nothing more wonderful than being alive.

Being given this amazing opportunity to have a human experience here on planet Earth.

There are billions and billions of entities, elements and particles involved in keeping us alive.

The fact that we can breathe and see and speak and walk…

Our life itself, is a miracle.

So if you find it hard to come up with something to be grateful for, start there.

Be grateful for the very fact that you are alive, and you’ve been given this life to have an experience of your choosing.

For our experience of life is our choice.

We can focus on what we perceive as lacking in life.

Or we can be grateful for all we’ve been given.

And in doing so, open ourselves up to greater abundance, a higher level of happiness, and more robust health.

Let’s recap…

If you’re grateful for what you have, the universe or God, or love or angels, or whatever it is you believe in, can’t help but give you more.

So instead of praying or begging or pleading for more…

Thank her – thank yourself – for having all that you do have.

And then treat what you do have with respect.

When we respect what we have, we send out the signal – the energetic vibe – that we are ready for more, because we can care for what has already been given to us.

Start small.

Be grateful for whatever you can get your heart behind.

Then simply notice how with practise, your gratitude capacity starts to grow.

Whatever you do…

Practise gratitude.

And then practise it some more.

Feel how it warms your heart.

Elevates your spirit.

And returns you, to your natural state of love.

Next week I’ll share a simple 2-minute practice you can do each day to help build your gratitude muscle, and strengthen your love for yourself.

This is a practice I give ALL of my clients, because it’s so easy and soooo effective.

Until then, if this episode opened a place in your heart and you feel like sharing a little love, I would be so grateful if you could leave a short rating or review.

And of course, don’t forget to subscribe to the show, so you’re the first to know when each episode is released.

Loving what I’m sharing here on I Love Me The Podcast, and want to dive deeper into self-love… I’ve got you covered…

Simply take a peek at my online school Gettingnaked.com.au where I teach you how to strip off the layers of childhood conditioning, keeping you from falling in love with you.

Sign up for your FREE Self-Love Starter’s Kit there, and if you do enrol in any of my programs, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.