I’m sure this is the 100th blogpost you came across about Gratitude, since Thanksgiving just happened a few weeks ago and we all had to stay true to the Holiday that focuses in giving thanks for everything you truly are blessed with.

However,  being grateful shouldn’t be a once a year occurrence or the only time to really consider how much you should be grateful for in your life. Since the New Year is around the corner, I want to challenge everyone on creating a lifestyle of gratitude that doesn’t just come once a year in November  but to begin your every day with an attitude of gratitude that truly will bring a change into your life.

Everyone talks about how being grateful can bring so much change in your life, but the real change happens in your behavior, every single day.

I’m going to list just 1 practical step that you can bring into your everyday that can truly transform your upcoming year of 2019.

List 10-20+ things you are grateful for every morning. 

I’ve been doing this for some time now and it truly carries so many benefits and has transformed me. If it’s easy for me to list a few things that I’m grateful for, I will push myself to add more until it’s really difficult. When you start listing more, you automatically start thinking the good that’s already in your life. This helps you to search the wonderful things about your life and all that surrounds you. Or even things that we take for granted on a daily basis, as simple as the ability to walk, drive, smile, an abundance of food, relationships, and simply be a blessing in someone’s life.

Before you start thinking that this practical step is a waste of time, I want to encourage you that the word of God backs this up and Oprah, and every self made millionaire, and Forbes 500, and…. you get the point. (All the successful people took the idea from Paul anyways)

In Philippians 4:8 it says “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

The part that I want to emphasize is Paul says think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise, why is it difficult to ponder on what is good? Because something is already occupying our mind usually. ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts), the past, wanting more of something, not satisfied, or even when we get stuck in comparison and envy.

Before the day begins take a hold of your mind with Christ, before the enemy does. As soon as you get up, and this may take up to 15-30 minutes of your time, so plan accordingly. If you were to do this every day or even every other day, you will be on your way of becoming a grateful person. Not just being grateful once a year or when a situation comes up, but all year round. In every season, in every situation, the good and the ugly. It’s easy to be grateful when everything is great. It’s difficult to be grateful when everything isn’t.

Lastly, I did a personal experiment with this, just to see truly the power of listing the things you are grateful for every morning. I took a week off from listing things, and I literally was more susceptible to complaining, bickering, comparing, entitled and simply having a bad attitude.

Before the enemy has a chance to rob your joy and the possibilities that the day can bring, your gratitude is setting up barriers in your mind to not take the route of negativity. Even if any thought that tries barging in, you have a list of 20 plus things that it has to fight through. Sometimes we pray for God to send opportunities our way, but what we don’t realize is that our very own negativity doesn’t allow us to see them when they are presented.

Gratitude doesn’t just lift up your attitude it actually helps remove toxic behavior(s) and thoughts. In order to thrive in your life in the upcoming year 2019, right thinking and habits need to be applied.

I assure you that not only will you benefit from this, but everyone around you will too. That includes your family, friends, co workers, spouse and children. No one likes a negative, ungrateful, discouraged person. Everyone has bad days but let’s not make bad days be turned to every day, that brings you to becoming a toxic person.

Bring this one simple step into your every day, and your on your way to becoming a grateful person, and who knows maybe you will make it on people’s grateful list.

Blog by Mariana Parkhotyuk
Facebook: @mariana.parkhotyuk
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Blog: @Mariana Parkhotyuk