Gratitude: A Quick Practice You Can Do Now to Immediately Feel Better

Gratitude is something I first learned about when I came across the Law of Attraction. Whether that’s your thing or not, gratitude can genuinely shift your brain’s thought patterns and turn a negative feeling into a slightly better one when you actually notice what you have to be grateful for.

It doesn’t take hours or complicated rituals. Just a few intentional moments can start changing the way you feel and think.

Why Gratitude Works

Even on tough days, gratitude helps you focus on what’s working in your life instead of what’s not. It won’t erase problems or negative situations, but it does change the way you feel in the moment and how you react to them.

This is where a simple life formula can help: EVENT + REACTION = OUTCOME. You will react to an event no matter what, but you cannot change the event itself. If you can influence your reaction, you can potentially shape a better outcome for yourself. Practicing gratitude is one way to guide your reaction toward more positive outcomes.

A Simple Morning Gratitude Practice

The most common advice is to start each morning by writing down things you’re grateful for. In The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, the suggestion is ten items each day, but unless I am fully practicing The Magic, that can be hard to keep up. I find three items are enough to create a habit and to start noticing more in your day.

Here’s how I do it:

• I sit with my coffee and consciously write down three things I’m grateful for and why.

• I always try to write at least one thing I haven’t said before or haven’t written in a long while.

  
  

Some examples:

• I am grateful for my partner as they make me feel safe, cared for, and loved every single day.

• I am grateful for my car, as it takes me wherever I need to be safely.

• I am grateful for my kettle for giving me hot water so I can enjoy a coffee every morning.

The list is endless, and the longer you do this, the more you have to really think outside the box. Eventually, this could lead to you feeling inundated with things to be happy about. What a great thing to be inundated with!

If you don’t have time to write them down, you can say them out loud or even in your head. Just acknowledging them is enough to get started. The more meaning you put into them, the more they will help you.

Using Gratitude in Tough Situations

Not only is this practice great for everyday life, but you can also use it in challenging situations. If something happens that makes you unhappy, sit down and write ten things you are grateful for about the situation. At first, it might be hard or take time, especially if you are feeling angry or upset. Sometimes you just need to sit with the initial emotion before you can start this practice. Once you’ve calmed a little, it can help you make better decisions and change your reaction in a more controlled way.

For example, let’s say you have just been told you are going to be made redundant and will lose your job. At first, you might feel scared, annoyed, or unsure about the future. You can list ten things you are grateful for about this job and the situation. By the end, you should feel a little more positive and potentially motivated to take action to change the outcome.

Here are some examples I have written, keeping them general so they relate to different scenarios. The more specific you can be, the better. Write about the person you are happy to have made friends with. Write how a new situation could suit your life better, like closer location or shorter hours.

1. I am grateful for the job, as it gave me a redundancy package, giving me a buffer while I figure out my next steps.

2. I am grateful for the job, as I made some really good connections and relationships with other employees.

3. I am grateful for the job, as it provided a stable income in the past, allowing me to live my life.

4. I am grateful for the job, as it taught me skills I can carry forward into my next role and the rest of my life.

5. I am grateful for being made redundant, as now I can choose a job that suits my life even more.

   
   

Night-Time Reflection

Another practice I love is running through everything you have been through that day and everything you are grateful for, then choosing your best thing. This allows you to pick one highlight every day and reinforces noticing the good things.

This is particularly helpful on hard days, when it’s easy to forget the positive moments because your mind is focused on what went wrong. Even small things count. You might have parked right by the door at the Sainsbury's, win. You might not have caught any red lights on your way home, another win. You may have dropped something and someone picked it up for you, or a colleague at work bought crisps and shared them with you, and they happened to be one of your favourites. aA act of kindness can go a long way when you are feeling down.

There are so many little things that can happen during a day that we might just let slip by, when really, they helped you get through it.

Gratitude Isn’t About Being Perfect

These practices at first may feel hard or easy depending on your situation and mood. Over time, keeping them up really does change the way you look at things and creates an overall positive mindset. I am not saying you will be the most positive person or never experience negative things. That’s not realistic. Gratitude helps you get through and manage your thoughts during those negative times.

Using Gratitude to Support Others

Gratitude isn’t just a practice for yourself, it can also be a way to help others. I know my other half doesn’t practice gratitude as religiously as I do, but I know how even a simple reflection can help anyone, even without fully understanding all the meaning behind it. Plus, I love hearing other people’s reasons for gratitude.

Every now and then, I’ll ask my partner, “What were you most grateful for today?” and it’s always interesting to hear their perspective.

I’ve also used this approach with friends. I remember one friend was feeling really down and convinced their whole day had been a waste. I suggested they try the night-time reflection practice: go through everything that happened during the day and see if there was at least one good thing. At first, they were sceptical, but as they reflected, they realised they had been given a free burger at work, which meant they had a nice cooked dinner without spending a thing.

This simple reflection helped them see that, despite the tough moments, not the whole day had been bad.

Gratitude doesn’t erase the hard parts, but it can help others notice the small positives and shift their perspective even during difficult times.

A Book That Helped Me

A lot of these practices are inspired by The Magic by Rhonda Byrne. If Law of Attraction and raising your vibration sparks your interest, I really recommend this book.

It is a 28-day process where you do a different gratitude practice each day and learn ways to create abundance in your life.

I do rate this book and will do the process again. I must say I have struggled a couple of times to finish it due to the practices, and I always felt I had to do it every day, or it wouldn’t work. However, just knowing the different practices and doing them when you feel like it is a great way to become more abundant and shows you how much is out there to be grateful for.

You can find The Magic in most bookshops, or order it online. You can use my Amazon link below to purchase.

Buy The Magic