Turning Gratitude Outward – Sharing With The World
Regularly expressing appreciation positively affects your life, health, and mental and emotional well-being. But things don’t stop there. When you begin to express your gratitude and spread it widely, it will profoundly affect both people who are close to you and the entire globe.
Cicero, a Roman author & philosopher, referred to gratitude as the origin of all virtues. In other words, by cultivating gratitude, we also improve our ability to be kind, generous, organized, courageous, honest, and respectful, to mention a few. In what ways does this actually matter? When we express gratitude, we inevitably improve as people.
Let’s go one step farther with this now. What if you spread your acts of gratitude to the entire globe rather than just to yourself? What is possible? What kind of force for good could you enact? There is no way to know how many lives you could positively impact. Let’s look at how each person reading this might begin to express gratitude to individuals in their community.
Random Acts of Kindness
Do a good deed for a stranger. Giving a stranger on the street an open and sincere smile or offering the cashier ringing up your groceries a few nice words and a compliment can accomplish this. Or you could buy a drink for the person in line behind you at the drive-through coffee shop or deliver dinner to an elderly neighbor. Make it a point to purposefully show kindness to someone every day.
Respect And Thank Those Who Serve You
From first responders to the waiter at your favorite restaurant, so many people in our communities work to serve us. Make it a point to show them respect and express your gratitude in your words, deeds, and, in the instance of the waitress, a sizable tip. Express your appreciation to them for everything they do to make your life easier.
Volunteer In Your Community
Giving of your time and talents is a beautiful way to express gratitude. Anyone can donate their time to a variety of initiatives and causes. Take advantage of what’s available in your area and try to volunteer once a month. You’ll be surprised at how much you gain from it and that it’s an excellent opportunity to give back and express gratitude.
Develop Deeper Relationships
Last but not least, I would like to encourage you to work on developing deeper relationships. You will have a stronger sense of gratitude and lead by example when you take the time to listen and actively work on coming closer to the people you love.
Last but not least, I want to suggest that you work on creating more meaningful connections. You will feel more thankful and become a role model when you take the time to listen and actively work on enhancing your relationships with the people you love.