How the ‘21 Day Gratitude Challenge’ has transformed my life
I’ve always struggled with “true” gratitude. Undoubtedly, like most, I have been grateful for all the opportunities and privileges I’ve enjoyed in my life. But, I never really understood what gratitude was. Quite often, most people simply categorize gratitude as a mere human emotion like happiness or satisfaction. I have come to realize that gratitude is not a feeling or an emotion, rather it is a highly rewarding approach towards life.
Burdened with the worries of the present and the future, we are often too consumed to reflect on the things that we should be grateful for.
Gratitude has become somewhat of a buzzword these days. Whenever you read an article on how to be happy or to be satisfied with life, you are bound to come across this word: “gratitude”. Despite the prevalence of mention of gratitude these days, many complaint that they struggle with being grateful. Burdened with the worries of the present and the future, we are often too consumed to reflect on the things that we should be grateful for.
Like most early-career professionals today, I have been quite impatient and obsessive about my future. My mentor asked me to work on my gratitude, and introduced me to the ‘ 21 Day Gratitude Challenge’. It was a simple challenge. It basically involves daily logging of three things you are grateful for in your life , for 21 continuous days.
I started the very next day. With great enthusiasm, I created a simple Google Sheet file with columns for the date of logging and the things I’m grateful for.
First day was a fine breeze. I already knew the major things I was grateful for in my life, and I simply had to pick three. Major things such as my parents sending me abroad to study, starting my career at my desired company and good health etc. crowded my mind the first day.
After the first log, however, I wondered whether this challenge is going to be of any help in my self-development. Being a highly self-aware person, I already knew what I was grateful for in my life and could not see much value in simply jotting them down. Nonetheless, I loved that I had to actively think about these things that I usually don’t think about, even though they are in my head. Subconsciously, I felt a smile across my face as I logged.
I realized that I was grateful for little things like the smell of freshly baked breads on my way to work.
This very simple task started getting difficult as the days progressed. After the first week, I realized I could not think about anything major or life-shaping as I’ve already written down all that were in my head . My brain started working harder. I realized, for the first time, that I was identifying the small things that I was subconsciously grateful for. Thinking about non-major things such as having a short commute to work or having nice weather brought a smile now. I quickly jotted them down.
After that, surprisingly, the task started to become easier as days passed. I realized that I was grateful for little things like the smell of freshly baked breads on my way to work. Surely, I had to brainstorm a lot daily to think of three things I’m grateful for. But, the brainstorming was not a challenge anymore, rather I enthusiastically awaited the time for logging .
I set aside 10–15 minutes of my time early in the day to reflect and write down the three things. Thinking about gratitude early in the day brought a brilliant rush of positivity, which fueled the rest of my day.
With time, all the three weeks had passed. The challenge was complete. However, I was not done with the challenge. I loved how it made me feel everyday. I decided to continue it for 30 more days.
My brain got wired to take the simplest things in life, and automatically see the bright side in it.
The next 30 days changed my perspective completely. Previously, I was brainstorming to identify little things that I was consciously and subconsciously grateful for. But now, I had to identify things that I was not previously grateful for. It was a tough task, and I started finding gratitude in the tiniest of things. I started seeing the previously insignificant things with a new lens. My brain got wired to take the simplest things in life, and automatically see the bright side in it. I finally understood gratitude.
I stopped the practice of logging down after 30 more days. However, the practice of being grateful for the little things didn’t go away. It had become a part of my active thought process. On a daily basis, I look at things with a new perspective of great positivity and gratitude now. And since life is just a summation of all the days in our life, my life has changed for the better.
I feel happier, more satisfied and more successful every day . As I said earlier, I realized gratitude is an approach towards life, not a mere emotion. Different people may take different routes in understanding true gratitude. In my case, this simple challenge amidst my busy schedule has helped me to realize gratitude and to gain a life-transforming new perspective.
