The struggle ends when gratitude begins

Neale Donald Walsch

“Gratitude” practice is one of those therapeutic and personal development tools that is often cited in books and on trainings. So what is the underpinning theory that accounts for its effectiveness, its ability to “end struggle”? How can it make us feel happier and give us a sense of wellbeing that makes us feel relaxed and more able to come up with solutions? Here are some insightful quotations that point to the answer:

Additional Gratitude Quotes:

• Of all the ‘attitudes’ we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing. (Zig Ziglar)
• A basic law: the more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for. (Norman Vincent Peale)
• Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” (William Arthur Ward)
• Gratitude is the realization that we have everything we need, at least in this moment. (M.J. Ryan)
• Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie)
• True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience”. (Oprah Winfrey).

So what happens when we practice gratitude?

• Firstly our attention is drawn away from our sometimes habitual negative thinking to something more positive. As we can’t hold our attention in two places at one time, when we are focusing on what we are grateful for there is no room for the negative. Consequently the influence of our negative thinking is temporarily diminished. Creating a window of opportunity to do something different.
• When we look to what we do have in our life and not what we don’t have, we notice all the support, resources that we have. These resources and support, which were always there, were obscured when we were focusing on what we don’t have. Our motivation is raised and from that motivation we are more willing to take action towards what we do want.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFHT) perspective

From an evolutionary perspective we feel more secure when we are in a tribe ( people who love us and support us, whether it is family, friends or colleagues etc.). We also feel more secure when we have access to our ability to take action and to provide for ourselves and our families. Noticing all these supportive elements produces serotonin, the neurotransmitter which produces that wellbeing feeling. When we have that wellbeing feeling we move away from that restrictive fight or flight primitive mindset and move into our more resourceful intellectual mind, where we have access to our remarkable solution finding capability.

Notice the relevance of the above point in your life. Think of a time, in your life, when someone stepped in to help you or you received help when you asked for it. How did that help feel? Was there as sense of relief and more optimism? Or when you took action, even though the task appeared to be difficult. How did that first action feel? Was the task as difficult as you had imagined or was it easier?

Gratitude has the ability to access those resources and support by moving your attention towards them. When we are grateful for something we give it recognition and value. It becomes important to us and therefore available to us. It moves the resources and support from the mind into the heart.

Gratitude and the 3Ps

Gratitude falls into the SFHT strategy of 3P’s (Positive Action, Positive Interaction and Positive Thought). When we do one of the 3Ps, i.e. spend time noticing what we are grateful for (e.g. in gratitude diaries) , we generate serotonin, as mentioned above, and so feel happier because we are back in control and have all those wonderful resources which reside in the intellectual mind.

So ask yourself what are you GRATEFUL for? Your partner ? Family? Your Children? Friends? NHS? Your work? Opportunities? Nature? Health? Creativity? Your home and car? Really feel gratitude for all those things!! What difference does that make now that you have them in your awareness? What are you inspired to do more of, now?

Next step forward

So if you want to know more or support in creating that gratitude mindset, as well as deal with some of the negative thinking that can keep us limited, contact ACT-Hypnotherapy for your FREE consultation. I looking forward to starting our journey together!

Additional Resource

Ted Talk: If you want to be Happy ? Be Grateful! (David Steindl-Rast)