World Gratitude Day: 10 Meaningful Ways to Practice Gratitude

For more than 40 years, World Gratitude Day has invited us to imagine a more grateful world where people express gratitude instead of greed, division, scarcity, and hopelessness — a world where we stop taking life, each other, and the Earth for granted. The question remains: do you have the courage to imagine this alternative reality and work towards it?

According to gratitude researcher Joel Wong, “For centuries, philosophers saw gratitude as a force for good in the world, not a wellness hack. The research supports this…Gratitude moves people to action.” With division tearing up the human family during the 21st Century, this World Gratitude Day you’re invited to change your perspective and live gratefully by acknowledging all the ways we need each other, and all the ways we need you. We belong together. Let’s give thanks by working towards a more grateful reality.

Here are 10 ways to celebrate World Gratitude Day:

1. Make today A Grateful Day

Take 5 minutes to watch our founder Br. David Steindl-Rast’s short and powerful video meditation A Grateful Day. This video will awaken you to the wonders of our world, remind you what truly matters, and invite you to notice the everyday gifts of your life. Share it with a friend and pass gratefulness along.

2. Turn gratitude into positive action

Identify something in the world that brings you great joy but is currently at risk—perhaps a local natural habitat, healthcare access, quality schools, or world peace. List all the ways you appreciate and value this particular thing. From this place of gratitude, formulate one action you can take to nurture what you care about. Our 5-Day Pathway, Awaken Your Revolutionary Spirit, will help you tap into your unique expression of gratefulness and take action on behalf of what you value.

3. Get specific with your gratitude

Most of us are practiced at saying thank you, but we may not always pause to consider exactly what it is that we cherish or value about the people in our lives. And even if we do, we may forget to pass our sentiment along to the person who would most appreciate hearing it. So, write a note, pick up the phone, send a text, or simply speak directly to someone! Be as specific as you can.

Need a little inspiration? Watch this 13-minute short film by Reflections of Life. Want to share your gratitude virtually? Send a free eCard.

4. Deepen your gratitude practice with Stop.Look.Go

Practice gratitude anytime, anywhere by following these three simple steps:

• Stop — Become present to the moment, regardless of what is happening. There are many distractions in modern life, especially as a result of technology. But when you stop, you ground yourself in the moment and recalibrate.
• Look — Expand your awareness and wake up to the world around you. Zoom in on all that is around you like a microscope coming into focus. Attune to the moment, examine it with openness, and identify opportunities to be grateful. 
• Go — Do something! Respond to life with purpose and courage. Now that you attuned to the present moment and discovered what is meaningful in your life right now, respond to it with gratitude. 

Our 5-Day Pathway, Stop.Look.Go: A Daily Practice to Transform Your Life will help you implement this essential practice into your daily routine.

5. Set a daily gratitude alarm

Living gratefully is a way of being that requires practice. Start small by setting up a daily reminder to pause and identify what you’re grateful for in the moment. This could be as simple as an alarm that goes off at the same time everyday on your phone, or something you do at a point of transition in your day, like getting in your car or unlocking your front door. When it goes off, stop what you are doing and look up. With a grateful gaze, appreciate what you observe. What are you grateful for in this moment? How can you express your gratitude in a tangible way?

6. Embrace the fullness of life

Living gratefully is not an exercise in avoiding the hard stuff you experience by pretending things are okay when they’re not. Instead, living gratefully is being fully present to your life so that your perspective can be expanded, your compassion enhanced, and your purpose discovered in this moment. To put this into practice, start by taking ten minutes to simply observe — the light coming through a window, your kids playing, your own heart. In your mind or on paper, name one thing you’re struggling with and one thing you’re grateful for. Practice holding both things simultaneously, with equal tenderness.  How does attuning to the simplest gifts of life provide nourishment even as you face life’s difficulties?

7. Make time for daily grateful reflection

Contemplation is a key aspect of living gratefully. Consider beginning each day by pondering the Daily Question, where a community of practitioners exchange responses to a thought-provoking question each day. Prefer to bring gratitude with you wherever you go? Discover 100+ prompts for living gratefully with our Gratitude Cards, made in collaboration with our partners at Holstee.

8. Create a gratitude list and add to it throughout the day

Pause and write down three “ordinary” things you’re grateful for. They could be anything — a ray of sun through your window, a book you’re enjoying, a favorite chair, music that lifts your spirits, the comfort of a warm shower. Close your eyes and take a moment to give thanks for each of these gifts in your life. For the rest of the day, enjoy adding to your list one item at a time. Focus on the gifts available to you — especially those you may take for granted. At the end of the day, review your list and reflect on the impact of intentionally noticing and appreciating life’s gifts.

9. Begin and end the day with gratitude

Bring more meaning and joy to your daily life by grounding yourself in gratefulness. Start each morning by completing this sentence: I am here, and today I will remain on the lookout for opportunities to ________________________. At the end of the day, pause and reflect: Looking back on my day, I am grateful for ________________________.

10. Live like every day is World Gratitude Day

World Gratitude Day is the perfect opportunity to jumpstart or deepen a gratitude practice. But the positive impacts of living gratefully come to life with daily practice. Keep exploring our website for a multitude of daily practices, educational programs including courses, inspiring essays and videos, and community offerings.

Feature image by Tom Titus