Gratitude prepares the ground for kindness. When we are thankful we take our eyes off our worries and focus on our blessings. This helps us to be kind to ourselves and others.
Thankfulness is an important part of Peaced Together – we have seen that it can dramatically improve your health and wellbeing, and this has a knock-on effect on those around you.
“Being grateful helps us feel happier, less envious, less attached to material things and much more open to being kind to those around us.” Jaime Thurston, Kindness: the little thing that matters most
If you are going through a hard time it can be difficult to be thankful, but it’s during these times that you need thankfulness the most. You can make a choice to lift your eyes away from the struggles you face and recognise the good things in life.
Start small – notice a flower or the sunshine, be grateful for food and shelter. When you start on a thankfulness journey, you will find more and more things to be grateful for. It will also open your eyes to opportunities to give kindness and ready your heart to receive it when it comes your way.
One lady who completed the Peaced Together course said, “I am more thankful and hopeful, even when things are difficult. I will continue with my scrapbook journal as a way of focusing on the positive.” Perhaps keeping a thankful journal could be helpful for you too?
A few years ago a friend gave our family a ‘Thankful box’. Once a week, we take time to each write something we’re thankful for and put it in the box. At the end of every year we love to look back on the things we have been thankful for and remember them together. It is a wonderful way to teach thankfulness to your children.
What can you be thankful for today?Let it open your heart to kindness.