Being grateful helps to be happy

If you want to be happier in life, there is a simple recipe. All you have to do is learn how to be more thankful for the things in your life. It might sound simplistic, but it holds the ability to bring about great happiness.

But there is a catch. You can’t just come up a few things that you are grateful for today and then your whole life changes. Doing it one time, or even a few times, will result in nothing. Maybe it helps you get through a tough day. Maybe it helps remain positive for a short period. But it won’t drastically change your life.

The key to turning thankfulness into happiness in life requires a systematic approach. We must find a way to keep being grateful. We need to make it a habit.

When things go wrong, most people spot the problems. It makes sense. You feel unhappy so you want to know what makes you miserable. That search turns into a newfound focus. We keep harping on the problems. We magnify them. They become recurring problems in our mind. We don’t let them go. They get stuck in our mind and build a new habit for us. When things go wrong, look for the reason.

We can train ourselves to try to spot the solution instead of the problem. Sure, the problems are there. They will cause stress. They will pull our attention. It is important to know the root cause of a problem. But how quickly do we move to finding opportunities to improve the system?

Most people don’t search for the opportunity because they get stuck in a loop of negative thinking. They keep replaying the argument in their head. They keep blaming others for the problems. They keep finding fault in everyone around them.

But to solve problems, we need to be able to get past the finger pointing and get to problem solving. Having a grateful attitude will help us move past the negative and attach to the things that are going well. Then we can create a solution based on what is working as much as what caused the problem.

This isn’t wishful thinking. It isn’t trying to keep our head in the clouds or buried in the sand. It is to help see the other side of the system. We see the problem side, but we ignore the solution side.

The reason this sounds simple yet many people fail to do this is because they don’t realize it needs to be done regularly. By doing it systematically, we create new ways that we interact with the world.

If you start to do this, one challenge will arise. You will start to find it difficult to find new stuff to be thankful for. But you must push through. Because if you do, you will start to create a whole new habit, one that will continue to provide value long after you started.

Chief Tecumseh, chief of the Shawnee tribe, understood the value of being grateful. He once said, “If you see no reason to give thanks, the blame lies only on yourself.”

The more you do it the easier it will become. You will likely hit a point where you can’t think of anything. Everything in life will feel challenging. Something terrible will happen. Some problem will arise that seems insurmountable. Even then, strive to find something to be thankful for. Surely there is something, even something small, that will help you see the opportunity. That opportunity will lead to a path forward, a path through the struggles to something much greater.