All That We Have To Be Grateful For

In this life, there’s very few things I’m absolutely sure of. Frankly, there are a lot of questions I have for this world and this life. Questions that perhaps will never be answered, and perhaps don’t need to be. But one thing that has been completely tangible in my life, one thing I have pure utter proof of, one thing that keeps me happy and satisfied on a day to day basis; is the power of practicing gratitude.



If you take a look back of some of the Greats: Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill; they all had one belief and one practice in common: Gratitude. Many of the most brilliant people in the world believe that what you exude is what you will receive. So for instance, if you are grateful for what you have, you will attract more of that into your life. If you are unhappy with what you have, you will continue to have less of it. 


About two years ago I became entranced with the belief of practicing gratitude and the unbelievable results so many have said they’ve had in doing so. I read book after book on practicing gratitude, I studied the great professors of the world who taught about gratitude, and most of all; I practiced. Every morning when I woke up, I thought about everything I was grateful for. When I had time to kill; like if I was waiting in line at the supermarket, I thought about what I was grateful for. Then every night before bed, I wrote down what I was grateful for and on a separate page wrote what I wanted. I tried to correlate my gratitude’s and my wants. I’d write things like: “ I am so grateful for the family I have. They support me no matter what and have undoubtedly made me who I am. For them, I am extremely blessed.”

And then on my wants page, I would write things like: “ I want to be able to see and spend more time with my family then I do. I want a closer relationship with ____”. I did this for a variation of things. I wanted to project my gratitude as well as my wants into the universe.

I won’t lie, it took time for me to see results. I believe that this is because at first I was wary of this theory. But eventually my life completely changed. I realized that without even making an aware attempt to be positive or look at the bright side of things, this was now my subconscious go to.

A piece of me that had once, admittedly, been negative, was lifted away. Even the simplest things I suddenly saw positives in. Needless to say, aside from feeling the positivity since making the chance and beginning to practice gratitude, I began to see tangible, physical results. I started to feel like I could control the way every part of my life was going to go because of this new practice. Everything I continued to be grateful for, I was receiving more of. All my wants were coming true and I believe this was a result of realizing that even with my wants, I was already unbelievably blessed.


I believe energy also plays a big part in the practice of gratitude working in your favor. I’m a good person, I do my part, I give back and I don’t betray anybody. This brings me good energy within my life. You can’t be a deceitful person, yet practice gratitude but then wonder why all the things you want in life aren’t showing up.


Luckily for me, everything started to collide in my favor. The more I gave back, the more I got. The more I helped people in need, the more help I got myself. The more I practiced what I was grateful for, the more I would receive of those things. 

Here are a few examples to prove my point. I love my grandparents dearly but perhaps never practiced appreciating them enough. Once I started saying my thanks for them every single day, all relationships became far closer. I remember sitting one day thinking, “ I hope my Nana thinks I’m a good person. I hope she believes I’m talented. I hope she likes what I write. I hope I make her proud.”

Every time I gave my thanks for my grandparents, I would hope for these things. Then one day, my Nana gave me a book that she had made me. She had kept all of my pieces of writing that she loved and printed them out and pasted them into this book. She had taken quotes I’d said that she loved and pasted them into this book. She had written things she loved about me and was proud of me for. It was more then I could have ever asked for, yet in some sense, I suppose I did ask for- and am I ever grateful I did. 

Another, more material instance comes from my other side of grandparents.

A handful of years ago they gifted me with a beautiful trip to Europe. I went to London, Paris and Germany. I met long lost family I didn’t even know I had who simply changed my life. Ever since this trip I’ve always longed to go back. 
Ever since practicing things I’m grateful for, I always touch on Europe as it was a catalytic trip in my life. Recently I’ve had a strong longing to go back. I’ve been looking at pictures of Germany and London (my favorite) longing to back for months. I write about my memories there and how I wished to relive them. I write about how the first experience brought me so much closer with my grandparents.

The other week I voiced to my parents “ I wish I could go back and see more of Europe like I did before but I just don’t have the money to do it. Oh well, I still had such an amazing experience the first time around. You guys have got to go to London and Paris” I told them. Low and behold, mere days later my grandparents emailed me. “We are going to Berlin and London, and knowing how much you enjoyed Europe the first time, we were wondering if you would like to accompany us”. 



The chance of being invited back to Europe, all expenses paid for, without me even having to ask or mention it to them was unbelievable. When now writing about my experiences, I’m getting floods of experiences that come to mind from big things like Europe, to small things like having a free, brand new dresser show up the day I needed one. 

Regardless, the end point is that by practicing the power of positivity and gratitude, you will bring what you practice into your life. Energy is scientifically proven, and we all have it. The way you choose to harness such energy- whether you are grateful everyday or you go the other way and are negative everyday- this is what you will attract into your life but especially the practice of gratitude.

The more you think and speak and live what you’re grateful for, the more it will find you. If you are constantly thinking “I don’t have enough” or “I really hope this doesn’t happen”- you will continue to not have enough and what you’re putting your negative energy into hoping it doesn’t happen, will happen. Instead focus on what you do have that makes you happy and how happy you’re going to be when you achieve or have whatever it is.

I’m aware this can sound preachy. But it has completely changed my life and I guarantee if more of us practiced gratitude, it would change more lives alike and bring more positivity to us and our surroundings.