Did you know that September 21 marks the World Gratitude Day? I didn’t but give me any excuse to strengthen my gratitude muscles and I’ll take it! 😊

Sri Chinmoy, an Indian spiritual teacher, is credited with ‘inventing’ this day at a Thanksgiving dinner in the United Nations’ meditation room back in 1965. Already a year later, many countries celebrated it for the first time.

It’s a day to raise awareness around the benefits of gratitude and to take the time to practice it.

Here are 3 ideas for celebrating the day:

1. Make a mental list of 10 good things in your life

Do it directly after you’ve finished reading this post. You only need 2-5 minutes. Close your eyes and think about everything that makes you happy. Give thanks that it’s part of your life. When listing your blessings, add ‘because’ to make it tangible and to deepen your feelings of gratitude, e.g.:

• ‘I’m so grateful to have my mom in my life because she’s such a great role model to me.’
• ‘I’m so grateful for my dog, because he makes me laugh every single day’.

Nothing is too big or too small to go on your gratitude list. It’s your list. 

Your turn:

• ‘I’m so grateful….. (to whom / for what) because…. (the impact it has on your life). Thank you!’

2. Make a phone call to say ‘thank you’

Is it a friend, a parent, a chid, a sibling, a cousin, a colleague, a teacher? Think about all these amazing people and why you’re grateful to have them in your life. Don’t overthink it.

If you need an excuse to make that call, say:

‘Did you know that today is the World Gratitude Day? It made me think of you so I’m calling to say how happy and grateful I’m to have you in my life because….’

Go make somebody happy now. It’s worth it 😊

3. Design your own gratitude jar (also great if you have kids!)

Feeling creative? You’ll love that one!

If you want to practice gratitude beyond today, making your own gratitude jar is a great way to do so. Pick a jar (glass, plastic, whatever you have at home) and make it your ‘designated’ gratitude jar. You can decorate it to make it as pretty as you wish. If you have kids, they will love getting engaged too. You can use the activity to introduce them to the topic of gratitude and to invite them to practice it with you.   

Find a place at home where the jar will live and put some colourful paper notes and a pen next to it. Write down at least one thing that you’re grateful for every single day and put it in the jar until it’s full. Once full, take it all out to read through and feel the good vibes!

Tip: this is a fun family activity just before or after dinner. It’s a great conversation starter too!

WANT MORE?

I’ve created a short video with three other ideas that you can implement in your daily routine. You can do them all ‘on the go’. Grab it for free here.

WANT EVEN MORE?!

Would you like to learn how to use gratitude to feel happier, calmer and more balanced, even when your outer world is in chaos? Join the next edition of My Gratitude Challenge starting on November 7! In this 28-day Challenge, you’ll move away from complaining and being negative to smiling more and noticing and appreciating with ease all that googness in your life. Registrations are now open. Read more and register here.