Women joyfully holding up an ornament |
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Gratitude seems to be in the air in November, but what happens when December rolls around and the busyness envelops your day? Or when a season of unexpected circumstances stays too long? Will you be able to keep gratitude and joy alive? 

Hoping to find gratitude and joy is not enough; we must embrace the pursuit daily, and a habit will help us uncover an abundance of God’s blessings. Click To Tweet

In the book Effortless, Greg McKeown introduced me to one fantastic way to start a gratitude habit. The idea originated from the “habit recipe” by BJ Fogg, Ph.D., and Greg tied it to complaints, which I share below. The premise of the “habit recipe” is when we want to start a new habit, if we can match it to something we already do, it will make it easier to remember.  

Starting a gratitude habit doesn’t have to be complex. It can be as simple as when we brush our teeth, drink a cup of coffee, sit for morning devotions, stand in line, or turn out the light; we name three things that bring us gratitude. 

Discover five ways to keep gratitude and joy alive in your daily life with a habit. #habit #gratitude Click To Tweet

Five Ways to Keep Gratitude and Joy Alive With a Habit

1. Start Each Day with a Grateful Heart

There are so many ways to start your day with thankfulness. A journal sitting right next to your coffee pot might help, or you could avoid allowing your feet to touch the floor before you state three things that bring you gratitude. 

How does starting with thankfulness help your day?

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2. Incorporate Gratitude Into Your Prayers

My favorite way that helped me turn gratitude into a habit is using the T.R.U.S.T. acronym to pray during my morning time with God. The first T stands for Thanksgiving, and I start my prayers by expressing three things that bring me gratitude. 

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. 
Psalm 92:1

Did you know expressing thankfulness can help cultivate an attitude of gratitude?

If you are interested in our prayer workbook, where Maree walks you through her T.R.U.S.T method of prayer, visit our page, Embracing Prayer | How to Approach God Using the Acronym T.R.U.S.T. to find out how to receive a workbook

3. Turn Each Complaint Around

We all complain from time to time, sometimes more than we desire. One way to practice gratitude and stop complaining is to catch ourselves whenever we complain. As the complaint slips out, we reframe our thoughts and state three things that bring us gratitude. 

Example: As I headed off to bed last night, I took one look at the sink and let out a growl—“I hate it when you leave your dishes in the sink. Now I’m stepping in the ice cream you dripped on the floor. Can’t you do better?”

What a way to end the night, right? Quickly, I could reframe my thoughts into gratitude.

  1. What a blessing to have a husband.
  2. Thank you, God, for providing us with ice cream that we can afford.
  3. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a husband that wants to be home with me. 

If you are counting, yes, I came up short. Three complaints would have equaled nine statements of thankfulness; however, I’m a work in progress. 

4. Live in the Moment With a Grateful Heart 

Learning to live in the present moment is a beautiful experience that takes mindful practice. Perhaps choose a specific time of day when you practice living in the present moment. Setting the alarm on your phone to go off daily at a precise time will help. 

You will want to:

  • Stop and be still
  • Breathe in and slowly exhale
  • Push away your thoughts of tomorrow and yesterday.
  • Look around and notice what you hear, see, feel, taste, and smell. 
  • Capture the moment as you embrace gratitude and acknowledge to Jesus all the magnificent gifts He has given you at this particular moment.

For more details, visit “How to Live in the Moment with a Grateful Heart.”

“Seeking gratitude can help us to find happiness in the present moment. Then when expressed to God can lead to joy.”

—Maree Dee 

5. End Your Day With Gratitude

Recall what you are thankful for in your day. Writing them in a journal would be ideal, but don’t let that stop you from starting a simple gratitude habit of naming three things before you turn out the light. 

Remember a few key factors must be present to receive the benefits of gratitude, as explained in “How to Discover More Joy by Living Daily With a Thankful Heart.”

  • choose to seek gratitude daily
  • Notice the blessings
  • acknowledge
  • appreciate
The best news is that it’s never too late to begin a habit of gratitude! Click To Tweet

What About the Joy?

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As you create a habit of gratitude, your joy will burst forward effortlessly. But don’t let me convince you. As I write this, I’m on day 25 of our “Embracing 30 Days of Gratitude”, and I can report that my appreciation and joy have increased exponentially. How about you? 

We can keep gratitude and joy alive as we pull close to God, regardless of our circumstances. The blessings are all around us, waiting for us to uncover them. Let’s choose to carry gratitude forward in our hearts and minds through a habit of counting our blessings. Then, when the unexpected shows up, we will be ready to embrace both the hard and the good at the same time. Knowing one emotion does not have to cancel the other out. 

How have you kept gratitude and joy alive throughout the year?

Girl looking out | Gratitude seems to be in the air in November, but what happens when December rolls around? Will you keep gratitude and joy alive?
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24 Comments

  1. Pingback: Grateful Heart Helps Us Draw Closer to God and Inspires More Joy
  2. Pingback: Embracing the Unexpected—The Best of the 2022 Fourth Quarter -

  3. I love this idea of turning a complaint in our hearts into gratitude, Marie. I know I need more practice in this. It’s so important to seek out the beauty of God’s blessings in our everyday lives, isn’t it? Thank you for encouraging a gratitude attitude! Love and blessings to you!

    Reply

  5. Catching our complaints and turning them around to gratitude is a wonderful way to retrain our brain to see the good in everything! I need to work on this, for sure! Each morning I do write out at least three things I am grateful for, but I know I could do better being grateful all day long. Thank you for these tips!

    Reply

  6. Maree,
    Wonderful and practical tips on gratitute. “Turn the complaint around.” — I love this. I’m guilty of the grumbles, but each time I get them it’s an opportunity to turn them into gratitude. Breathe — be in the present and not drifting off to the past or skipping into the future — Amen!
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

    Reply

    1. Bev, I love what you said, “Breathe — be in the present and not drifting off to the past or skipping into the future.” Thank you for adding to our conversation with your beautiful words. Maree

      Reply

  7. Maree, I so appreciate your practical suggestions for developing a gratitude habit. Each morning, during my quiet times, I write down a few things I’m grateful for. I want to work on maintaining a gratitude attitude throughout my days. Your suggestions will definitely help me.

    Reply

    1. Jeanne, Thank you for sharing how you practice gratitude. I, too, want to keep a grateful heart all day. Please share any ideas that help you. Maree

      Reply

  8. I love your point on turning our complaints around. It reminded me very much of something I was recently studying, so I valued that reminder this morning! Thank you for listening to the Spirit of the LORD as you write these such important messages of encouragement and peace. Blessings, my dear sister!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your encouragement. I have been practicing turning my complaints around, and it’s becoming a little more natural. Now to, stop complaining altogether. I hope it helps you. Thank you for stopping by and reading. Maree

      Reply

  10. These are such great ideas, Maree! During this Embracing 30-Days of Gratefulness challenge, God has been really working in me! This month has not turned out as I had planned. I had wanted to be home “doing my thing” and then preparing for Christmas in our new home. I wanted to look out the window and see the first snow begin to fall. I wanted to sit by the cozy fire and bask in its warmth. I wanted to be with my husband! However, God had other plans, and I know that I am right where I am supposed to be! So much has been going on. Too much to post in a comment, but, my daughter and her children needed me, so I am with them. However, as I have grappled with feelings of not being able to do what I had planned, I am seeing the wonderful benefits of what God has me doing. I am purposely focusing on what I have to be thankful for and it is making a HUGE difference in my attitude! I am so grateful for my family and how, even when we are not physically together, we are working as a team. I am grateful for my daughter and the work God is doing in her life I am grateful for my grandchildren and being able to spend this time with them and have our bond grow. I am thankful that God is laying out a plan for all of us and even though I am not at home yet, soon we will all be under the same roof. There is so much more, but the bottom line is, as I focus on the positive and thank God for what He is doing and has done, I am able to experience His peace and joy, even in trying circumstances.
    Blessings to you and your family as we enter the Advent season!

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Joan, for sharing. You warmed my soul, and I am so glad that gratitude makes a difference. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t practice it daily.

      Before sending this, I am praying for you and your family.

      Even though I don’t know the detail of what is going on, your story resonates with me. I love that your family is working together even when not physically together. That speaks volumes. In our family, we frequently are not together, and I have to learn to embrace the blessings with the pain. Even as I type this, I wish to be in two places with those who need me, but it is comforting to know God is in all areas. Thank you for sharing your positive attitude and gratitude. You brightened my day.

      Many Blessings, Maree

      Reply

  13. Maree, the older I get, the more naturally gratitude seems to come. It wasn’t always like that and I’m grateful that God hasn’t given up on me. My glass-half-empty mentality has morphed into a glass-overflowing mindset. He’s blessed us continually. I am grateful.

    Reply