Gratitude Changes Our Attitude

When things aren't perfect, gratitude can help us see things in a better light.

Life is Pain

Anyone who says differently is selling something.

That's overstating it, but it is, nevertheless, universally true that life contains hardships for everyone. Life is meant to be hard -- not just for its own sake but for the opportunity for growth and positive change. Embracing the fact that our life will not be perfect -- that this is by design and universal -- will allow us to deal with it in hopefully better ways.

Opportunities for Gratitude

Just as each of us can experience hardship in a day, we can each find something to be grateful for. Our mindfulness of the good things that happen will draw our minds to happier places. We can more readily remember what is good. Some days it might be enough to realize that it could be worse. Even in this line of thinking, we realize what we have.

Gratitude can lift the mind and lighten the heart. Isn't it more enjoyable to find a silver lining and hold on to that? When we are more grateful for what we do enjoy, our attitude will change for the better. We'll enjoy ourselves more -- others will to.

What are some of the effects of gratitude that you've observed in your own life?