Life over the last few months has made it hard to feel grateful or maintain an attitude of gratitude. It has been a treadmill of heartbreaking illness, family struggle, the challenges of having both a young child and an aging parent. It’s been red eye flights and tough conversations and too much paperwork.
And, yet, through it all, I’ve tried my very, very best to practice “dazzle catching” – to find the tiny things that make life easier or a little more joyful – the soft pillow under my head, a deep breath, the birds outside my window, an uninterrupted hot shower, a deep blue sky, first sip of coffee, a stretch, a quite drive home after the morning rush of dropping my son off at school.
You’ve no doubt heard about the importance of gratitude when it comes to living a well-balanced, mentally healthy life. Gratitude puts you into a high-vibration state that is good for your body, mind and soul. That state of being also helps you manifest the life you wish to live.
On good days, you probably have no problem being thankful for your blessings. But what about the days when everything seems to be going wrong?
How do you muster up the energy to thank the Universe when times have been tough and seem to be getting tougher? This article will tell you how to do just that.
What Is An Attitude of Gratitude?
Before we explore how to better your mental health by harnessing the power of gratitude, let’s talk about what gratitude is.
Gratitude is a knowing deep in your core that you are fortunate, no matter what is going on around you. No matter how hard your days or nights and how many challenges you face, you know that you are truly, truly blessed.
When you truly take in — deep in your bones — that you’re blessed and always held by Spirit/the Universe, the blessings around you start to pop. They shine back at you, almost pulsing, like a neon sign you can’t miss.
You see, having an attitude of gratitude is really just a perspective shift. Admittedly, not the easiest one to make — but once you get in the habit of seeing the proverbial glass as half-full, you’ll find yourself slipping into gratitude more easily and often throughout your days.
How to Live in Gratitude — Even on the Hard Days
So, how do you make gratitude your go-to setting, even when life feels messy or heavy? It might feel like staring up at a mountain you have to scale, but it’s more doable than it looks. At its heart, it’s a perspective shift — one you can practice in small, doable steps.
Start with what’s right in front of you: your favorite coffee, the sunlight through the window, the sound of birds outside. Thank the Universe for that one thing, then notice how it feels. That little spark? That’s hope.
Try this:
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Look around: What’s one thing right now you can be thankful for?
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Pause and feel: What happens inside when you say thank you for it? (Harvard Health explains how this practice rewires your brain toward positivity.)
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Repeat: Find another thing — big or small — and thank the Universe again. Notice the shift.
But here’s the real challenge: can you do this on the crummy days? The ones where you’d rather hide under the covers? Gratitude becomes powerful when you can look at the hard stuff and see it as a gift.
Yes, a gift. That tough job, the missed opportunity, the person who tested your patience — they’re showing you what you don’t want, which sharpens your clarity on what you do want. (Psychology Today notes that this reframing can actually boost resilience.) That’s worth a thank you. Every misstep, every bad day, is the Universe handing you a well-timed lesson.
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Being grateful when life is hard isn’t about slapping on a smile or skipping past your feelings. It’s about choosing — again and again — to notice what’s still good and what’s still teaching you, even in the middle of the mess. Those tiny thank-yous are like the first hot sip of coffee after a sleepless night: small, steady handholds that help you climb out of the heavy and back into hope. And with practice, gratitude stops being a sometime thing and becomes your quiet, everyday superpower.
If you can find gratitude here, you can find it anywhere — and that’s when manifesting your best life gets real. Read more in Manifesting Meets Real Life
Dr. Dowling has spent years helping people live richer, more joyful lives. She has seen firsthand the magical pairing of psychology and life coaching, which allows people to access their happiest selves.
View Dr. Dowling's articles on Mindbodygreen
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