GRATITUDE LIST

In my previous post, I mentioned the importance of having a gratitude list. A gratitude list is basically a list of several small things in your life which you are grateful for. I prefer to chose small things over big extravagant things because if you lose the big thing, it will be harder to replace. But if you lose the small thing, it will not be as hard to replace.

Contrast a guy who is grateful for his $15,000 car versus a guy who is grateful for his $15 shirt. If they both lost that which they were grateful for, who do you think would be able to recover it sooner? The guy who is grateful for the $15 shirt will have less trouble and find it a lot easier to find a new or similar shirt than the guy who lost the expensive car.

Always keep your gratitude items small. But the trick is, to build up the emotional intensity by having lots of these items. In other words, have lots of small items that you are grateful for.

Write them down on a piece of paper, and look at them once a day.


Here is how my gratitude list looks like. Basically, they are things I am grateful for:

1) Living in a generation which has the internet.

2) Having parks where I can go walking.

3) Having nice books to read.

4) Having pen and paper to journal.

5) Owning a television.


That right there, is a list of five things in my life which I am grateful for. Notice how all of these items are items which other people take for granted. They are also items which if I were to lose, I would be able to replace them in a short time. I can eventually repurchase books, pen, paper and a television. It is not likely that all the parks in the world or the internet will dissappear. If they did, I would just find two new things to be grateful for to replace them with.

By looking at this list every day, it always makes me feel good. I urge you to create your own gratitude list and look at it every day. Set aside twenty minutes to brainstorm the little things you have to be grateful for.

Write it down, and look at it once a day.

It is a little effort, for a big difference. Trust me, it works.