Gratitude – How 5 Minutes a Day Can Change Your Entire Life

Many people strive for more – in BEING and in HAVING. To become better as a partner, in their job, as a parent. To have more in terms of money, power, or other things. Why is it so difficult to be grateful for what is? Because gratitude changes everything.

Gratitude generates positive emotions

A grateful attitude fosters positive emotions. Positive emotions, in turn, influence numerous areas of life: professional success, social relationships, self-esteem, mental and physical health. Experiencing positive emotions can mean a kind of psychological break, during which resources are replenished. When you look at your life through the lens of gratitude, you strengthen your resilience, i.e., your ability to cope with the small and large challenges of life.

Gratitude changes you

At first, you notice these changes through different behaviors. But in the long run, gratitude changes your beliefs and your character. Do you already feel gratitude for who you are and how you are? And for what you have? Our closets are full and yet we constantly buy new clothes. It only costs a few euros anyway. The Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo inspired me with the way she sorts out things she no longer needs. She says: If you don’t want to keep something, if you don’t want to take it into your future, then thank the object for being with you. Because maybe you learned something through it. Through the bright red sweater worn once, that you don’t wear that color. Through the bargain shirt, that something isn’t worth buying because it only costs three euros.

Train a grateful attitude

Gratitude towards the things that have accompanied you is an attitude that you can train. You can also apply Marie Kondo’s method to people. Many experts advise eliminating people who drain your energy from your life and having the courage to make the cut. Yes, that may make sense, but with what attitude do you say goodbye in your thoughts? Do you think: Finally, I got rid of you? Or do you think: Thank you for allowing me to learn through you that I don’t want to have a friendship where I have to contact someone every day?

Be grateful for what is. For the people you deal with daily. Maybe the colleague who constantly annoys you suddenly becomes someone who helps you work on your patience every day. Be grateful for the people who enrich your life, who are there for you and love you unconditionally. Be grateful for the person you are today. With all your strengths and weaknesses. Be grateful when you fail, because you have learned. Be grateful when you succeed, because you progress.

Count your blessings

If you find it difficult to feel gratitude for your life or if you want to promote your gratitude, keep a gratitude journal. That’s the easiest way. Make it a routine to write down every day what you were grateful for today. This will show you how your perspective on gratitude changes. These are five minutes a day that will change your whole life.