“Practicing” Gratitude
Did you know practicing gratitude can increase happiness by 25%? (Study here.) My life has been… well, it’s had a lot of variety, I guess you’d say, and it continually amazes me, every single day, how much better my life is now than in times past.
Practicing gratitude isn’t an intention for me; it’s more like accidental gratitude. At least three times a day, no matter how happy or sad I am, I’ll notice something in my life, and I’ll automatically think, “Wow! I am so lucky!”
It’s astonishing to me how different each decade of my life has been. And how many things I’ve seen and experienced.
Time goes by super fast when life is calm, though. It’s a little frightening. Or maybe it’s just my age. I don’t know.
I love my job, I love my clients, I love my city, I love my friends, I love my cats… of course there are things I’d like to tweak or change or add, but I’m pretty lucky.
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
I will try to be a better practicioner.
LOL! Probably I need to, as well!
Thanks for your enjoyable blog!
There are an awful lot of people in this world, and in this country, who are incredibly lucky and don’t realize it. Instead they grumble and bitch and want more, more, more. It’s a shame. Heck, every week when I go to the grocery and buy pretty much what I want I am thankful because for a lot of my life there were lots of weeks when I had to count my pennies and subsist on tinned beans and macaroni. Yeah, I am happy I can eat decently and have a good roof over my head and a lot of ungrateful people who enjoy those comforts ought to be reminded how many people aren’t so lucky.
Oh yes, Eric! There was at least a year where I was really feeling the pinch, although for a few years before that there were intermittent times. And then there was the one month where I lived on $30 or so dollars, eating only those cheese and peanut butter cracker packets (you can get a box of twenty for $2–that’s 20 meals!). I swear, having lived through those times were the best thing that ever happened to me and my eventual happiness. I would never live through them again if I could help it, but I’d never take them back, either.
I cannot, however, even LOOK at cheese and peanut butter crackers without wanting to throw up, LOL.
It makes me happy to hear you say this. I try very hard to be grateful for what I have in my life, and not dwell so much on the things I don’t.
I try, too, but… it’s more like gratitude pops in when I’m dwelling. I should try to avoid the dwelling, as well!