Daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. People who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved. Gratitude encouraged a positive cycle of reciprocal kindness among people since one act of gratitude encourages the others. Valuing gratitude means that you see the world in a different way. Gratitude is like a state of being. “You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter. Heartfelt gifts deserve the return gift of gratitude”.
Gratitude is deeper than feeling happy. It is about a state of mind. To value gratitude and to be in this state of mind means that everything you see, you see through the eyes of thankfulness. Every action you take and every thought that you have comes from this place. The amazing thing about being in this state of mind is that it creates an increase in energy in you. Your overall body will feel strong and confident when you are in a state of gratitude. It’s the shift in energy that occurred in you at that moment in time when you made that shift. The energy bursts throughout the universe and it connects with other people. When you are in a state of gratitude people notice. You may even see their face change in appearance. This is the power of gratitude, which plays a significant role in a person’s sense of well-being.
Generosity: A natural extension of gratitude is generosity. Grateful people notice the contribution of others to their success. They see when others are behaving at their best and, when others make mistakes, they look behind the mistake to the other person’s intent. They give others “the benefit of the doubt”. They so clearly see the “gifts” that others give them that they automatically want to give something back. Generous people live the concept of “win-win”. They believe that as they give to others, they will receive good things back. Virtue really does become its own reward! Generous people share their ideas and their emotions because they believe that abundance creates abundance.
Generosity is about dynamic exchange, the act of giving and of receiving. In giving you create a dynamic exchange in that you also open yourself up to receive. Giving creates confidence in giving. The more you receive the more you will give.
“You are already inherently affluent, no matter how much or how little money you have, because the source of wealth is the field of pure potentiality – it is the consciousness that knows how to fulfil every need, including joy, love, laughter, peace, harmony and knowledge. “ Deepak Chopra (1994)
Acknowledgement: One of the most powerful strategies is acknowledgement. By acknowledging how far you have come, you not only encourage yourself to strive further, but you actually force yourself to stop, recognize and enjoy the wonderful things that you have achieved.
A powerful activity to do with a client is to ask them to write down an experience in the past year where things went wrong. Then have them write down all the lessons that they learnt from the experience. This activity helps a client to identify past events to be grateful for. It trains them to seek out opportunities to be grateful in the future even when they are going through challenges.
Encouraging Gratitude: See a world full of joy and wonder. When good things happen to us, we recognize the role that others play in our success and acknowledge it. If we regularly thank others, we will look for opportunities to give back. If gratitude is so essential to life satisfaction then part of our role as coaches is to encourage our clients to be more grateful. Being grateful is a skill, like any other, that can be learnt and developed over time. There are a number of strategies and techniques that we can use to help a client to become more grateful.
“Can you describe to me a time this week when you were at your best?” then the coach can then help the client to analyze the behaviors and attitudes that were at play during that time. More than likely an attitude of gratitude, generosity or abundance will be present.
