Five Strategies to Practice When Gratitude Eludes You

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate and express gratitude. When we take the time to focus on that for which we are grateful, we feel fulfilled. Our cup overflows with feelings of abundance. According to Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles: “Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life.” The more we truly express appreciation for what we have now or have had in the past, the easier it becomes to think positively and attract more of what we want into our lives.

Feeling grateful when things are going well is easy; however, negative situations and emotions challenge the best intentions to give thanks. At times you just need to have a temper tantrum or pity party because life is asking more from you than you can manage. You are not alone in this dilemma. If you have experienced a major loss during the past year, are coping with a forced change in your life, are dealing with physical illness, or are experiencing challenges within a relationship, you may be less able to feel connected to an attitude of gratitude and feelings of abundance.

Here are a few tips to consider when being in gratitude is a challenge:

• Accept yourself right where you are; you will become an observer. Your negative emotions and thoughts will move through you more easily, preventing you from getting stuck in them.
• Be willing to see the situation differently; you will make it possible for a positive insight to bubble up into your awareness. The insight may place your focus on what you do have or what is working in your life.
• Remind yourself that this situation will pass; you will feel empowered and optimistic. Before you know it, you will find a way to be in gratitude again.
• Ask for help from a Higher Power; you will invite grace to lift you beyond your negative emotions and thoughts and restore you to a sense of fullness and wholeness.
• Allow others’ feelings of gratitude to carry you along; you will feel part of an uplifting, nurturing community.

I am always amazed to learn what individuals have endured to get to the present moment. Some of these people thrive, some survive and some succumb to powerlessness. You can become a thriver in times of adversity if you find a way back to your power, focus on positive possibilities, take purposeful action and develop an attitude of gratitude. According to Panache Desai, author of Discovering Your Soul Signature: “Gratitude expands your awareness of life and allows you to access the inherent grace that is present in every situation.” You may find something positive about yourself, another or life as a result of going through the negative.

When your cup overflows with gratitude, your life will feel worth living. You will appreciate who you are, value the people in your life, find pleasure in simple things and expect the miraculous to touch you. With practice, gratitude becomes a part of you that is always with you even when you cannot touch it.