Step Forward to Reducing Stress

Step Forward to Reducing Stress

‘Well begun is half done’! You can begin on a winning note by cultivating gratitude to develop a positive attitude and reduce stress in your life. You can also attain inner calm by learning to be grateful because gratitude and stress cannot coexist.

Gratitude is essentially about living in the present and being thankful. It is an attitude of acknowledging and appreciating what you have. It is a trait that allows you to remain calm regardless of what’s happening around you.

Deep down, it is our desire of wanting new and better things that cause stress and unnecessary suffering. We tend to concentrate on what we do not have. We are constantly in search of better things without realizing that it starts a vicious circle that never ends. Once you get what you want, you soon find something even better and you want that too. It is an unending cycle and one of the major causes of stress in modern life. You can stop this ‘cycle of want’ by cultivating gratitude.

When we talk of gratitude as a way to inner peace we imply it as an attitude and not a short term experience of the emotion of gratitude. Everyone is born with specific traits. But the fact is that the mind can trained to develop a natural tendency towards optimism.

You can find things to be grateful for in every aspect and in every situation that presents before you. Cultivating gratitude requires a little bit of patience and some very simple steps.

Awareness and Analysis

Awareness of feelings is the first step. Most of the time we go about our daily work schedule without even realizing that we are stressed or annoyed. Take time out frequently everyday and ponder over your feelings. Look at every facet of your life from a point of view of gratitude. You can even express gratitude on having lost a client. Treat that as an opportunity to analyze your shortcomings and improve your business.

Maintain a Gratitude Journal

Maintain a journal to list your blessings. It is actually a way of remembering your blessings lest you forget. It also makes a good read at times when you are not feeling good. Whatever the situation there are always things that you are grateful for. You are alive, you have a roof over your head, you have a job, you have electricity and you can read. The idea, again, is to focus on what you have and not on things missing in your life.