11 Powerful Ways You Can Cultivate A Grateful Heart

admin | September 23, 2021 | mindset | No Comments

Life is simple if you can approach it with a grateful heart.

I’m sure you’ve heard of this before – Gratitude Changes Everything.

It may be so, but sometimes, it’s not easy to find gratitude.

If we can, take a little time to care for our heart health.

Having a grateful heart leads to happiness, joy, contentment, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, peace, and much more.

Appreciation is good for the soul.

So, how can you choose to be grateful and cultivate a thankful heart?

You can start by writing cards about gratitude.

Whatever your Definition of gratitude, all of us need encouragement in life.

As we travel along life’s journey, having a good and positive attitude helps you develop a grateful heart.

11 Ways You Can Cultivate a Grateful Heart

As we journey, we can grow more profound gratitude by keeping a Gratitude Journal.

As with everything else, from determining your choice of pizza toppings to going vegan – life is about making choices.

If we could choose between bringing an umbrella when we leave our house and not, would we be grateful for the rain?

Gratitude is a Choice

There are many times in my life that I have faced challenges.

Some are small, and others are very challenging.

I am sure all of us have been through the same road.

Some people miss the potholes, others get a flat tire, and still others may have an accident.

Gratitude is a choice of how we respond to events beyond our control.

One day, I parked my car near an Indian temple.

At a specific time of the day, someone will feed the pigeon that gathers on the road.

I wanted to take some photos of the temple with the birds flying.

I thought it was good to hide behind my car so the pigeons wouldn’t notice me.

When I returned, I saw a man had cast a fishing net and caught all the pigeons.

A police car came by, and the policemen asked what the man had done.

Apparently, the birds did not belong to the temple, and it was not a law to catch pigeons, so the officers let the man off.

I walked towards my car as he rode off on his motorcycle, laden with the birds.

I noticed that there were hundreds and hundreds of scratches on the bonnet.

The scratches made the pigeons when that man put the net of birds on my car.

I was dumbfounded.

I remember telling a friend.

He said you chose to park where pigeons are.

The probability of getting bird poop on your bonnet and getting scratches on your car is a lot higher than if you parked where pigeons hang out.

Think of it this way: if it were a head-on collision, there would be more damage.

I understood what he meant then and chose to be grateful instead of grumbling bitterly.

My friend taught me to choose gratitude in the midst of the crappiest of circumstances.

That was a valuable lesson and an opportunity to be grateful and choose to see blessings instead of misfortunes.

I don’t think I am alone, but sometimes, we all tend to feel discontent more than gratitude.

There is hope, as we all have the choice to be grateful.

My friend taught me that I could get by better if we could find something to be thankful for on the worst days.

Grateful people choose the attitude of gratitude in all circumstances.

See everything we have as a gift.

Being entitled and discontent seems to be prevalent these days.

I remember watching YouTube of a little boy, Grey, and his mom.

Grey’s mom would make him something to eat every day, and his response was always a big smile and gratitude: “Thank you, Mama.”

How many of us say that when we get something?

At my first camp, we were served white rice, a hard-boiled egg, and a boiled sausage.

I was depressed as I expected the same packed food that we got for a few days.

Some others believed they, too, had a right to what they wanted.

A nice meal with three dishes.

I remember grumbling loudly and complaining bitterly until Uncle Doug asked me, “Why do you think this happened?”

I didn’t know.

He explained that there was an accident and the food we catered for didn’t arrive.

Some people helped to cook with whatever ingredients they could find in the kitchen.

There was no oil.

Hence, they could only boil the rice, sausage, and egg.

When we view something as correct, it’s tough to be grateful.

I know I must say things like, “I deserve a good lunch.”

However, when I started seeing everything as a gift, it was much easier to be thankful.

Perspective is powerful.

Many take our jobs, homes with air-conditioning, cars, and a consistent income for granted.

I used to take my home for granted until I started traveling and learned to share the house with many people, including the bathroom.

I remember one trip to an aboriginal village during a hike.

Tiny villages without running water and electricity,

Houses made out of scrap metal lined the twisting river.

Few homes had windows or a solid door.

The roof was broken, and rainwater was harvested in a plastic container to use.

Perspective is powerful.

We take so much for granted.

Being grateful helps us keep a good perspective and remember that we must be thankful daily.

We see what we look for in our journey of life

In a world full of bad news, what do you see?

How do we find good news?

Can we find any if we look hard enough?

Christian Haettich has one arm and one leg.

One summer, over 22 days, he cycled across the Dolomites, the Alps, and the Pyrenees to become one of only ten finishers of a grueling three-week amateur cycling event.

When hundreds of riders struggled to cycle up mountain passes, they looked elated but shattered.

Here was Christian Haettich, a man with one arm and one leg competing in the field of able-bodied riders.

Haettich found a way to be grateful and continued to press on.

That photo of Christian Haettich stuck in my mind always reminds me to find something to be grateful for.

Ways You Can Cultivate a Grateful Heart — Photo: Manu Molle

There is only so much room in our hearts.

When we reflect and look for reasons to be grateful, we have less time to worry, grumble, live in fear, be bitter, and be frustrated in our everyday lives.

Grateful people actively look for opportunities to be thankful.

We practice what is important to us.

I remember the movie Forest Gump (Tom Hanks) and the scene filmed at Monument Valley.

Forest Gump was running after he started three years ago for no reason.

He crossed the country a couple of times, and on his way, he gained a group of followers.

As they run on a desert road with the Monument Valley behind them, Forrest suddenly stops running.

Rob Pope is an emergency veterinarian by night and a record-breaking ultra runner by day.

Rob became the Australian Marathon Champion in 2015 and won the Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in 2015 and 2016.

In 2018, Rob ran over 15,700 miles in 422 days, becoming the first to make Forrest Gump’s fictitious epic run a reality.

Rob spoke about strangers’ kindness, the benefits of accepting our energy’s natural ebb and flow, and why we need to trust that our body always wants us to improve ourselves.

Rob Pope was inspired by the movie Forrest Gump and decided to retrace Forrest’s steps.

Rob is the only man to run across the United States four times.

This Englishman ran 422 days and over 15,000 miles to earn his stripes as the real-life Forrest Gump.

He persevered through financial hardship and overcame tremendous physical pain and injuries throughout the journey.

As for the number of times a day Rob gets people to shout “Run Forrest, Run” at him during his run. Check out Rob’s adventures here.

However, his will is unbreakable, and he became the first man in history to accomplish the feat.

After all, he just felt like runnin’!