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We can never have too much gratitude.   

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to get distracted by what we want and forget to appreciate what we already have. As Norman Vincent Peale said, “The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” 

What Is Gratitude?  

Gratitude is the feeling of thankfulness—whether toward the Divine, a specific person, or any of the multitude of things we experience in our lives. When we feel gratitude, we’re thankful for what we have without constantly seeking more. While we can hold space for our desires, gratitude is about taking time to relax, acknowledge the good, and enjoy life’s blessings. As Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice.”  

Receiving gratitude is also important. Growing up, I always tried to be helpful and generous, but I was often poor at receiving gratitude. I would usually make some comment to deflect it back to the giver. Some years ago, this was pointed out to me, and I realized that, in not accepting thanks, I was denying the other person the gift of being able to give. Hopefully, I’ve improved. Accepting gratitude is also an acknowledgment of our own worth, so giving and receiving are both important parts of gratitude. 

The Benefits of Gratitude 

Gratitude generates positive emotions, helps us appreciate good experiences, and strengthens relationships. Research shows that people who express gratitude live healthier, fuller lives.  

Taking a moment to be thankful causes physiological changes in your body that initiate the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of your nervous system that helps you rest and digest.  

Gratitude and the response it causes help bring down your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing, which helps with overall relaxation. Feelings of gratitude can regulate cortisol production in your brain and reduce anxiety and stress. Similar to giving, gratitude triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters and hormones associated with happiness, including dopamine and serotonin. 

Gratitude with Intention 

It’s sometimes difficult for the mind to express gratitude truthfully. How many times have you said a begrudging thank you, one you didn’t really mean? Perhaps having doubts that the other person was really worthy of your gratitude? Notice how you feel when saying thank you. How much of a habitual response is it? Is it a hasty aside, an afterthought? “Thank you”, should not come with ulterior motives. Don't express gratitude because you want somebody to do something and don’t abuse or take advantage of someone else’s gratitude.  

Have there been times when you felt grateful but didn’t say it, maybe because you felt it weakened you in some way or you felt embarrassed expressing it? William Arthur Ward said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”  It’s said that gratitude is a gift that can, “Make the mundane special and bring joy to a tired and weary soul.”  

To be grateful awakens spirituality within us and opens the heart center, allowing all its qualities to flow out, dissolving the darkness and negativity in life. Imagine you have a boss who is always complaining and grumbling and no matter how hard you work, keeps telling you you’re not good enough. Now imagine you have a different boss, one who is kind, compassionate, and appreciative of all you do. Which boss would you prefer? Which one are you more likely to work hard for and have a good relationship with? 

The qualities of gratitude all originate in the heart. The more we can begin to think from our hearts, the more gratitude flows in our lives. What are you grateful for? Let’s start with the mind. Be grateful for all the work it does, sorting through all your thoughts, ideas, and emotions, making sense of all the things you constantly present to it. Be grateful to your mind for knowing when to stop and rest, rejuvenating itself with sleep. Thank your mind.   

Pain and discomfort are the body’s way of asking for help, but how often are you sympathetic, or how often are you critical and complaining? When you look in the mirror, how many times do you blame the body for what you see, when it’s often your poor habits that are the cause. Your body works tirelessly day and night to serve you. Don’t you think it would prefer your love and gratitude, rather than criticism?  Thank your body. 

How to Practice Gratitude in Daily Life 

Take time to enjoy all the wonderful gifts you already have. Don’t only wait for the big events, be grateful for everything.  

• Can you be grateful when things don’t seem to be going your way? Find something to be grateful for in every situation. Everything is an opportunity in disguise.  

• Is there anything or anyone you aren’t grateful for? Think carefully, did you learn something from even the people you think you don’t like? Be aware of the magnificence of life all around you.  

• Are you glad to be alive? Be grateful for the miracle of your life. Thank the Universe. Thank the Divine for making you exactly as you are, and for making everything exactly as it is. 

At the end of each day or year, take a moment to reflect on what happened. Maybe you’re grateful that it’s over but look deeper, see how many things or people you can be grateful for. Can you find gratitude in the things that challenged you? Think of an experience that was perhaps unpleasant at the time. Whatever the experience, there was a release of karmic energy. Something locked at the level of your soul has now gone. If we continue to look at the experience as a problem, the energy will return, and we’ll be trapped once again.  

Being grateful, not necessarily for the experience, but for the release it brought, allows us the freedom to move forward on our spiritual journey. Life’s challenges often open our eyes to the good things we weren’t paying attention to and allow us to change our lives for the better. 

Here are a few things most of us can be grateful for every day: 

• A place to live 

• Nourishing food 

• Clean water 

• Friends and family - at least one person who truly cares about you 

• More good health than sickness 

• For the morning alarm because it means you are alive 

• Being able to speak your opinion or practice your religion or life choices without fear of persecution 

• A meaningful spiritual practice 

Practicing gratitude is taking a moment to reflect on how lucky you are. It opens us up to the fullness of life. As Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”   

Gratitude can turn something simple into something magical, a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. And remember what Heda Bejar told us, “The fragrance always remains in the hand that gave the rose.” 

Be grateful at every opportunity. 

Roger Gabriel is Chopra Global’s Chief Meditation Officer and a member of the Chopra Center Certifications’ Advisory Board. Want to learn from him directly? Enroll in the Chopra Meditation Certification, the Chopra Meditation Enrichment course, or the Chopra Meditation Foundations course.