Can you boost your mood to happy almost immediately?
How can you bring your mood back up even through a hard day?
The answer is yes, and only by using a simple and free technique:
Gratitude
Gratitude is defined (by Webster’s dictionary) as the quality of being appreciative of the benefits received. When I read this definition, it leads me to believe that this is why we neglect its use.
We are thought to wait until we receive something to be grateful or appreciative. But we hardly ever hear that we need to practice gratitude all day every day, even when things are not going our way. It has been proven with studies done by Harvard University that being grateful lifts your mood and improves health.
The best news is you don’t need to wait for something to happen to us to feel grateful. Gratitude can be used purposely and deliberately as a tool throughout your day. Gratitude is a natural mood booster. You can learn to practice your gratitude with your thoughts as your day goes on, use a journal, or if you are more of a visual learner, you can try a mood board.
Here is how you can practice gratitude every day
You don’t have control over what happens around you, but you do have control over what thoughts you entertain; therefore, you can control your responses to the world around you.
What thoughts do you give your energy to? Are they positive and hopeful? Are they negative and catastrophic? These thoughts will determine your response to your circumstances. If you choose wisely, you can feel good on happy days, and you can feel good on stressful days as well.
In this article, I share with you how I use gratitude to save me through my challenging days and to make easy days even more enjoyable for myself and my kids. These techniques that I learned in the last few years have helped me through my loss. I am certain they can help you through your circumstances too.
Tip #1
For a moment ignore all the noise that surrounds you and focus on your breathing. Are you in the middle of a parking lot at a grocery store? Are you in line to pay your water bill? Are you at dinner with family or friends? It doesn’t matter when you need to just take a little moment to go inward, ignore the noise and chaos, and breathe.
Take a few breaths in and out, doesn’t have to be noticeable. After a few deep breaths, immediately after you notice the noise volume around you isn’t triggering you anymore and you’re able to feel some level of calmness in your chest area think and express gratitude towards 3 things that you have around you that make you happy or that made your day a little bit easier.
Here are some examples I’ve used in the past:
- “Thank you, God, for the fact that my water bill is paid for, and thank you for giving us running water to take a shower in the morning before the day starts.”
- “I am so thankful for this moment; I am grateful everyone around me is happy and loud. I am grateful for their health and their happiness, thank you God for letting me witness this moment.”
- “I am so happy and thankful for the creamer in my fridge and how it was enough to make this coffee that has been keeping me awake through the chaos of today.”
- “Thank you for my lungs, which are working properly right this minute, and that in the middle of my day, I can take my breaths in and out without a problem.”
Anything that you can genuinely feel grateful for, no matter how small or silly it may seem to you. Trust the process. Once you understand how gratitude works you will realize there is no such thing as something being too little or too silly to feel grateful for. And your perspective will completely change.
Doing these gratitude exercises will feel strange at first. The awkward feeling is very natural when changing your perspective about gratitude as an adult because you are used to taking the very small things in life for granted. Learning to get back to that innocent state of mind and feel grateful for everything is a game-changer.
Now think to yourself (or say it out loud as I do, it’s up to you) how thankful you are for these few things, how incredibly happy and thankful these 3 very specific situations, things, places, or people make you feel.
Allow the feelings of calm, peace, and happiness to flow through your body. As you generate all this new energy with higher frequency in your vibration, you will be face to face with the power of your thoughts, that wonderful manifesting power within you.
Hold on to that “happy” feeling for a few moments. When you are ready to come back to your hectic day use that incredible boost of energy to take care of your business. Let that new feeling inside your heart help you find a smile to move forward instead of tears of frustration and stress.
Repeat as much as needed.
Tip #2
As a single mom, things don’t always go the way you planned for. Days can feel a little daunting and you end up overwhelmed, or on the verge of a mental breakdown.
There are times when you are on a nonstop to-do list. and even though you are advancing you feel so far behind, and emotions are bound to flare up.
When you are on a schedule for an event, school, or work the pressure to make it on time with perfectly looking kiddos can feel draining. Especially when we feel the lack of helping hands and we fear failing our kids or other important people in our lives. In moments like these, it’s easy to feel the stress running through your veins and dislike it.
You’re not alone, at times I catch myself praying for my health to be strong enough to put up with the stress of being a single mom. Becoming a widow at such a young age with 3 little ones taught me valuable lessons and showed me how strong single mothers have to be daily just to make ends meet.
I have found a different way to deal with the emotion of being so out of control, and the daily stress of being accountable to live life as the rest of society does, to deal with your boss, your kid’s teacher, etc. healthily.
The answer is:
Surrender In Gratitude.
This applies to everyone no matter what your belief system is, if you are religious or agnostic doesn’t matter. Note again, that although you don’t have to be religious to do this, you do have to believe in something bigger than yourself. What your beliefs are, is up to you. Gratitude is welcome in all backgrounds.
God, the universe, energy, nature, or whatever idea you surrender to in your prayers and thoughts. You must surrender in gratitude.
Example #1:
You are right on time to make it to your kid’s drop-off. Suddenly, your kid smears peanut butter on her only clean jacket. While you drive, she ignores the napkin you give her, and now the peanut butter is on her jeans too. Now you need to use the last 10 minutes available to spare to drive back home and find something else for her to wear. On top of that wiping the peanut butter off her face and hair takes another 10 minutes, making you officially late for school and you’re still home. The fact that last night you prepared for today didn’t matter, your circumstances have taken the best of you.
In this scenario, the feelings of anxiety can take over. Feeling the pressure of the school officials looking at you weirdly for not being on time and counting each tardy against you. The pressure of your neighbors hearing you raise your voice or the worry of your child being made fun of because she isn’t wearing her best outfit that day.
The pressure of your boss getting after you for not making it on time again affects the team’s schedule compliance, which affects everyone’s bonus. These emotions can be overwhelming, and you can end up feeling angry and drained. As you get better at navigating single mom life and have things more under control and organized, situations like these still happen now and then. The practice of surrendering in gratitude can help minimize the emotions of overwhelm and anxiety, it can help you feel better through a rough day and enjoy your life with your children the way you deserve.
How so? I will explain next…
Notice your surroundings and understand that there is so much more going on besides your life and your family’s lives. The world does not revolve around you. Birds are flying near your trees, other families are driving down the street, some cars and trains, and ambulances have a purpose and destination near your neighborhood as well. A lot is going on.
This gets me closer to my point, there are traffic jams, accidents, policemen giving tickets, etc. One way to feel thankful in this scenario is to believe you are divinely protected by a bigger force.
That you are taken care of in ways you can’t explain but you can imagine. That this mishap is happening in your favor and not against you. And to let go of the time pressure, and other people’s negativity about time constraints, and just be thankful you and your kid(s) are alive and well.
Be thankful you can still make it to your destination and that your life and security are by far more important than a schedule, or a tardy. Be thankful that today you end the day with a funny story instead of a tragedy.
This happened to me a few weeks ago:
I was running late for an important meeting I had, I was 20 minutes behind schedule, and with my 3 kids, I felt I was never going to make it into the car. I used this technique, and my results were incredible. I thank God for keeping us safe and protected from the bad things in the world, for keeping us safe from accidents and away from traffic tickets or random things that could hurt us on the road. I was incredibly thankful for having my health, my life, and my kids safe as well and to be able to still make it to my event even if it was a little later than I wanted to. I trusted God’s times.
When we finally left our home, I decided to pay attention to my surroundings more than just driving on autopilot while I listened to my tunes. I noticed 2 policemen giving tickets down the road and when we were almost to our destination, I saw a traffic accident.
It had been raining all day for the past few days, yet the whole time I drove all I saw was sunshine right above us, almost as if there was a stream of light hitting our car and everyone around us to our destination.
I felt calm, peaceful, and safe. I knew I was going to get people annoyed at my lack of punctuality, but inside my soul, I was so happy and thankful for being alive and for my kids’ lives, and because of that I ended up having an amazing day.
I have never looked back, and when I notice myself getting into a bad mood, I use this technique. Never fails to work. This is an example of an affirmation you can use on these types of days:
“Thank you, God, for protecting us from unseen things that we can’t imagine. We love you and are incredibly happy and thankful for your love and protection.”
Tip #3
After my husband passed away, I realized I was going to have to do everything for my 3 kids all by myself. Not just physically take care of my home but also mentally plan and think for everyone, emotionally being available for whoever needs me in the moment, and all in between.
Life kept teaching me lesson after lesson. It was hard. When they were sick and in need to go to the doctor or hospital, I was a wreck. My stress and emotions were almost immobilizing. Having to go everywhere with my three kids was hard enough, but to run to the doctor’s office was another level of stress.
My husband used to be a good balance for me at home and with the kids. He was always a very hands-on and supportive parent and partner. I didn’t realize how much he helped balance my mind as well until after I lost him.
Long story short. The way I deal with these situations now is also with gratitude.
A completely different approach than how I used to do it before becoming a widow. Ever since relying on gratitude, I have noticed that I am more efficient, and more patient with my children while the chaos of clinics and hospitals is going on. Now that gratitude is part of my daily life, I have confidence in myself to successfully deal with everything the day brings, good or not so great.
How can you be thankful when your children are sick? How can you tap into gratitude when your loved ones are struggling?
This is how:
Look around and see the resources you do have to help your kids. Like their medical insurance up and running, enough money to pay for any copays and medications, a car that is working well and a tank full of gas to take them where they need to be, and health in their body to be able to drive them to the doctor’s office as soon as possible, etc.
Repeat over and over in your head affirmations like I am thankful for being resourceful in times of despair or I am grateful for everything that is going right in this moment so I can help my kids feel better.
After doing this you will notice you’re feeling good, empowered, and strong. A mom who is filled with gratitude for being able to help her family out is happy.
There is always something good you can focus on to find the energy to bring yourself back up.
Focusing on the positives of your day does not mean you are ignoring the negatives. It is a better way to handle things to keep the mind clear and be able to see the possibilities.
Take the time to practice your gratitude as much as you can, and it will become easier to switch from low to high vibes in a second.
Thank you for reading this article and make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on social media.
XO
Hazel
