Reading Time: 6 minutes

“You can complain because roses have thorns or rejoice because thorns have roses”

Ziggy, a comic character

There were a number of years of immense struggles that I faced as a mother of a child who was chronically ill. Life just seemed too hard. And I felt helpless and powerless at the same time watching my child suffer all those years.

At the time I felt like no matter what I did, it would not make any difference.

Those were days when all I could see is the dark clouds ahead of us, the silver lining was almost invisible.

Have you ever felt like this too?

When you’re facing health issues, relationship problems, work stress or just going through a difficult season in your life – it’s easy to get stuck in negativity.

I should know.

Those years were very difficult, but fortunately, over time I discovered the power of gratitude.

It changed my life and my family’s too.

Even in the hardest of times, there are blessings to be grateful for if you look for them.

The healing power of gratitude

When my daughter first developed severe eczema as a baby, I was worried but not too concerned because it was mostly under control. It was only a few years later that her eczema went out of control. Her skin used to be inflamed and broken extensively because she couldn’t stop scratching.

We had an amazing team of doctors behind us and yet, conventional medicine had no solution.

To summarize, things came to a head in 2013 and after that I gave up trying to find a solution the conventional way.

During my year-long research in 2014, I discovered Functional Medicine and it changed our lives forever. Her eczema finally came under control without medications. But much before her eczema finally came under control, I embraced the healing power of gratitude.

It changed my perspective completely.

I stopped taking people, health and my life for granted. I found meaning and purpose that helped me go through some really dark times. I took care of my daughter and my family more effectively.

As our outlook shifted, life was not so painful or bleak anymore.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity… It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Melody Beattie

The science behind gratitude

Let me ask you this-

What if you could alter our way of looking at your life? 

What if you realised that life owes you nothing?

Most importantly, what if you realised that what you have is actually a GIFT and cannot be taken for granted? 

Research shows that when we look at life this way, the effects are quantifiable and sustainable. This is in terms of the quality of our life, our relationships, inner peace, happiness and health. 

We are never too old, young, rich, poor to live gratefully. 

According to Robert Emmons, psychology professor and gratitude researcher at UC, Davis there are two main components of gratitude, affirmation and recognition. 

That is, we affirm the good things that we have received as a gift from sources outside of us and we also acknowledge the role that others play in bringing it about for us. 

In gratitude, we recognize that the source of goodness is outside of ourselves. 

So when we feel grateful, we know that we have been given a gift which we did not necessarily earn but benefited from.

And research also shows that gratitude has the power to literally rewire our brains to focus on the positive, improve our health, and strengthen our relationships.

There are many health benefits which have been shown to be linked with gratitude such as

• Increased happiness and positive mood
• More satisfaction in life
• Less likely to experience burnout
• Better sleep
• Less fatigue
• Greater resiliency

3 simple, yet powerful ways to cultivate gratitude

And now that you understand why cultivating gratitude is so important, I want to show you how you can cultivate it in your daily life.

You see, building your “gratitude muscle” is a skill you can build over time.

I learned this firsthand through my daughter’s healing journey. Choosing gratitude and savouring the small joys each day no matter how good, bad or ugly it was, allowed for moments free of stress. And it gave us breathing space to deal with what was going on and look for gentler solutions.

As a part of the third pillar SUSTAIN in my 3 pillar “BODY WISE HEALING FRAMEWORK”, I use the CARE model to help my clients incorporate this into their daily life so that they can not only get well but stay well

C- Create an empowering self care plan,

A- Access your inner wisdom and guidance ,

R- Replenish and restore balance,

E- Embrace stress with ease and softness

The three ways to cultivate gratitude are-

1. SAVOUR. Savouring refers to ”the capacity to attend to, appreciate and enhance the positive experiences in one’s life”. 

You can practice savouring on a daily basis by

• taking pictures
• listening to music
• going for a savouring walk (listen to the guided meditation in this week’s podcast episode shared below)
• creating something
• spending time outdoors
• enjoying good food and conversation
• engaging with your children
• reading a book

2. Changing “I HAVE TO”.

 you can awaken gratitude in your life is by changing ONE word- choose one particular task or area of your life which feels like a burden to you. 

Then any time you say “I HAVE TO” do something, change the word “HAVE” to “GET” or “BLESSED” or “CHOOSE”.

You can watch the video below to learn how to actually do this

3. GRATITUDE JOURNAL. One of the most effective ways to cultivate gratitude is to keep a GRATITUDE JOURNAL. As a matter of fact, try this before for 15 minutes before going to bed for 1 week and pay attention to how it changes your life.

“Joy comes to us in moments – ordinary moments. We risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”

Brene Brown

Prompts for a gratitude journal

I find that keeping a gratitude journal is one of the easiest and most effective ways to use and develop our “gratitude muscles”

I have shared below some journal prompts to get you started on cultivating your own gratitude practice:

• What I appreciate most in my life right now
• 5 things that I am grateful for right now (or as many as you can think of)
• I am grateful for my family because…”
• “Something good happened this week…”
• “I am grateful for my friendship with… because…”
• “I am grateful for who I am because…”
• “Something silly that I am grateful for…”
• “Something else I am grateful for…”
• The best part about my day today
• What I am learning from my challenges

Remember, starting a daily gratitude practice takes patience and persistence. Some days it will come easily, other days will feel like a struggle. Be gentle with yourself.

Choosing gratitude changes everything

Over time, you’ll find that choosing gratitude shifts everything. Your nervous system calms, sleep improves, and your whole outlook on life brightens. Above all, you start feeling at peace and healthy in your body once again.

Also, I’m so proud of you for taking this time to go through this post and finding out how gratitude can change your life.

Our lives are filled with so much good if we take the time to notice.
May we walk this journey together with hearts overflowing with gratitude.

If you need any help with your healing journey, I am here to support you.

Reach out and let’s have a conversation.

As Meister Eckhart said,

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

You can find me at:

• Email: anindita@aninditarungta.com
• Instagram: @aninditarungta
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nourishhealconnect/