How many times have you looked back and realized you haven’t enjoyed the journey along this pathway called life? In my study of gratitude this week, I heard the phrase retroactive gratitude. I’d never heard it put that way before. Basically, it’s another word for regret. How many times have you had Life by the tail, and suddenly tragedy strikes, and you wish you had been grateful while you still had it? How many people are you thankful for now, but you haven’t told them? They won’t always be with you. Tell them now. You don’t want to stand over their casket and mourn the loss filled with regret.
The good news is gratitude can cancel out those feelings of regret and remorse. But it takes time to build the habit of gratitude. Things won’t always be the same in your life, and if you don’t take time to be grateful for them now, you may not have them in the next chapter of your life.
Building a habit of gratitude takes time, practice, and a little bit of ambition, but it’s not hard to do. It’s a simple process. It just takes some focus. All you need is 10 minutes a day and a notebook. I encourage you to join me on this 30 days of gratitude challenge. It will change your life and will help you come to the end of your life with less regret.
Start today by being grateful for your health. It may not be perfect, but if you take time to be thankful, you’ll find you feel better. It will also help you and encourage you to get healthier.
Be grateful for a place to stay. I spent a year having to live with relatives because I didn’t have a house. It sucked. I’m grateful that I have a home now. I kind of took it for granted before. Make sure you are thankful for what you have because you never know when it could be taken away. You don’t want to look back with regret; you want to look back grateful for the happy memories.
Check out today’s gratitude challenge video on this subject:
Surviving Christmas with Gratitude (Synova’s Attitude of Gratitude Series)
Transform your chaotic holiday season with this journal and 5 minutes a day!
Not everyone enjoys the holidays. After losing loved ones, it’s hard to continue with the festivities, but it’s vital to learn how to live again. After suffering through trauma, it’s hard to celebrate with a loud and rowdy crowd. Did you know a daily gratitude practice will change your life, both mind, and body?
Studies have proven that our brains literally cannot be fearful, anxious, or stressed and be grateful at the same time. Did you know that? The part of the brain that handles these emotions cannot do both simultaneously. It has to shut one off to open the other. Now you can be anxious and immediately grateful afterward, but you cannot be both at the same time!
What if you reprogrammed your brain to refocus on gratitude and shut off the anxiety during this season?
With a daily gratitude practice, you will do just that!
Original photo credit: Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
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