I write about gratitude every six months or so. I do it because I believe it is important to regularly remind ourselves of good and positive things in our lives. We don’t need reminding about the bad stuff—it brings itself to our attention all on its own. But it’s easy to ignore or even forget the good stuff.
I also am a firm believer in gratitude’s ability to improve our lives—it’s been proven to have a positive effect on our attitudes, achievements, and health. Personally, I have been writing down at least three gratitudes every day for years, ever since I attended a wonderful presentation on the topic by Shawn Achor, a best-selling author, speaker, and researcher of happiness. (He attended Harvard, too.) Go ahead and take a look. I’ll wait.
What I have been thinking about recently, though, is how to be more effectively grateful. While I can and do write down how grateful I am for my family, my job (Commonwealth is a wonderful place), and other major items, I have been trying to be more mindful of the smaller blessings I see every day.
Here are some examples:
These are all small moments that could pass unnoticed if I let them. So I try not to.
This is the next level of gratitude, and it has taken me years to get here. Make no mistake: Writing down three blessings each morning is important—and I will keep doing it—but giving ongoing recognition to these smaller moments makes me even more aware of how good things are.
Mindfulness is the key here: Paying attention to each moment, giving it the recognition it deserves, and appreciating all the good that comes your way. One of my favorite John Mellencamp songs expresses it very well: “Days turn to minutes and minutes to memories. Life sweeps away the dreams that we have planned.” It is all too easy to have the minutes of your life taken away before they have the chance to become memories.
You might argue I shouldn’t be talking about this on a blog devoted to the economy and the markets, but I would profoundly disagree. The purpose of investing is to provide a better future for yourself and your family—and making a better foundation of the present is the best investment in the future I can think of.
You might also argue that it’s easy for me to talk about being blessed, but people are really struggling out there. This is profoundly true. How much more important, then, to try to focus on even just one small, good thing at a time?
As for me, the more I pay attention, the more I find to be grateful for. I hope that you find the same, and that you have a wonderful summer with your family and friends.