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As a life coach I want to inspire hope in people. I am always trying to find creative ways to help people move their lives forward. I find that when a person takes action and begins to move forward with their life, not only does change occur but hope rises up in that individual.

The interesting think about action is that it doesn’t always have to be big or gigantic steps to shift your life in a different direction. It can even be the small things we do on a daily basis like practicing gratitude.

One of the things I started this year was to put gratitude slips in a jar so I can read them at the end of the year. I am so glad I started this. Although it has been an incredible difficult year with COVID-19 and all the changes it has brought, I can’t wait to open up the jar at the end of the year and see all the amazing things that also happened along the way.

Gratitude may not seem like a big deal but turns out it is. In fact, if you want an instant mindset shifter, then stop what you are doing right now and think about three to five things you are grateful for. If you keep doing that on a regular basis you will start noticing other things to be grateful for. It’s really how the mind works. What we focus on we tend to see and notice more. What concerns me in today’s world is what is grabbling our attention and occupying our thoughts? If we are not careful of what we give our time, energy, and focus to, we can become bogged down and even depressed. So gratitude seems more important now than ever.

Here is the final amazing thing about gratitude. People that practice gratitude daily are happier and more peaceful and present in their own lives. Even health practitioners are telling us about the benefits of gratitude psychologically, neurologically, and physiologically. People that practice gratitude sleep better, have less stress, and are happier in general.

What are you waiting for? Ever consider that you may be postponing a better outlook and mood because your focus is on what you don’t like. That could be why the Apostle Paul penned the words so long ago, “in everything give thanks…” Gratitude changes us. It changes our perspective. It changes our focus and even improves our mood. It enlarges our view, our hearts, and our life. When we practice gratitude, we become noticers and we notice all of the wonderful things that we have and the beauty that surrounds us.

Life certainly isn’t perfect. It is messy, hard, and very challenging at times, but if we start thinking about what we do have and what we do like, then we tend to find other things to appreciate. We become possibility thinkers and even more solution-minded in our own journey. We start noticing the treasures, the simple gifts God has given us, and the wonderful things we have to celebrate each day with the people we love.

Let me encourage you today to begin to practice gratitude in your life. I believe you will find it to be a real game changer!