How To Be Happy #4: Gratitude brings perspective

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16 Jan

Written By Firewheel Press

Ah, perspective.

One of those big words that adults throw at you when they think you need to ‘grow up’. So annoying, right?

What is perspective? It just means a ‘way of looking at something’.

Sometimes we focus so hard on the things that are bad that they are literally all we can see. And when everything looks bad, it’s pretty hard to be happy.

Getting perspective means changing your focus. You can still think something is bad, but you need to look at it next to other things. Is it as bad as we think? Maybe it’s actually reasonable, given the context. Maybe if we see all the good things around the bad things, we might see that the bad things aren’t nearly as big as we think they are.

That’s what gratitude does. It expands your vision so that you can see where the bad things fit in the broader picture of your life. And with a long list of things to be thankful for every single day, your list of things to complain about is going to look a lot shorter.

We’ve been focusing on being thankful since we began this happiness project. If you’ve been reading along and following the questions, you’ll have made lists and written down things you’re grateful for.

My question to you is: how have you felt?

Happier? Lighter? A bit more joyful?

What’s been the hardest part? Starting? Or maybe even finishing? Or has it been the ‘letting go’ of your pet problems which take up so much room in your heart? (You wouldn’t be the first person to struggle with that one, let me tell you.)

If it’s been working for you, let me know. And then, don’t stop doing it. Being deliberately grateful for several things a day from today until you die is going to change your life. But you have to make it your habit and actually do it. Every day.

Has being grateful made a change in you for the better this week?

Do you want to continue to set up a habit of gratitude?

How are you going to do it?

List 20 things you can be grateful for today. Be as specific and detailed as possible.