How full is your gratitude tank?

At any moment throughout the day, you can find gratitude. Yes, even on miserable days and miserable conditions. You have to power at any moment to find gratitude and I want to teach you one quick trick to get into that state.

I think that many of us have moments where we feel grateful. But, if you’re like me – I’m not always in the state of “gratitude.” I’m on my phone or annoyed at an email that I got. I’m getting coffee with Nate thinking about the work I have to do right after this. Can you relate?

There was a Harvard study that was done that found that people are not focused on what’s in front of them 47% of the time, which caused the participates to not feel happy.

The art of mindfulness is simply that – when we are connected to what’s in front of us (aka the present moment), we are happy. We are at peace, we are full of gratitude. But, it’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, that we don’t full appreciate the beauty around us…even this time of year - a time dedicated to gratitude!

Robert Emmons, a scientific expert on gratitude, found that after people practiced gratitude journaling for only 3 weeks, they experienced all kinds of benefits like: better sleep, lower blood pressure, more alertness, more optimism, and they felt more outgoing and less isolated and lonely.

So, here’s my one trick to help you find gratitude in any moment…yes, even the stressful times with your family during the holidays.

Whenever, I catch myself not fully being present or in a tense moment, I locate something in my environment that I find to be beautiful, like a tree, the color of someone’s shirt, art hanging on a wall, the smell of baked goods.

And when I find beauty – I find gratitude. My brain sees one thing of beauty and immediately, I can connect to gratitude and find more things of beauty.

Here are two examples of how I practice this in my life:

Maybe I am at dinner with Nate and I grab my phone to scroll (because heaven forbid I miss something in the hour I am having dinner). I see a really cool pair of shoes in an Instagram post and I go, “How gorgeous. What else is gorgeous?” And I look up and see the beautiful ambience of the room. “How beautiful that I am here.” And I look at Nate and think “How amazing is it that I have such an incredible person by my side?” And the next thing you know – I’ve put my phone down and I’m back in the present moment.

I also use this trick in more challenging and tense situations (and sometimes as a way of preventing myself from crying in front of my boss). You know…those moments! One time, I had a meeting with head of the company and unexpectedly began criticizing my performance. As he went on, saying some harsh things (and some untrue things), I looked out the window and I saw the ocean. I thought “how beautiful” and as I stared at the ocean, I was able to hear him in the present moment. Without thinking on my next statement or counterargument. I was able to listen – absorb what I needed to (and not cry) and finding a spark of beauty in a tough moment made me stay connected and aware.

I hope that connecting to gratitude is a part of your daily practice – even when times where you are frustrated or angry. I hope that you have mindfulness habits in place to help you live an extraordinary life. If you want to know if your habits are leading you to greatness, check out my quick quiz to discover your greatness score. Visit carisafindley.com/score.

Meditation is also a great way to practice gratitude! I like to practice a loving kindness meditation to extend for compassion for myself and others. If you want to know more about loving kindness meditation, check out this video on my YouTube channel. While you're there, subscribe so you don't miss out on more tips to help you live your best life!