Best Tips to Cultivate Gratitude and Find Serendipity During Difficult Times
Whether it be a global pandemic or a rough patch during our lives, it is challenging to lift one’s head from the fear and sorrow and find gratitude. Your feelings are valid and I’m not trying to cover up those real feelings with rose-colored glasses. (although rose-colored glasses would be pretty.) We are all trying to cope and find some joy along the way. The best part is we can have joy by having gratitude and then finding serendipity even in difficult times.
Gratitude is the most powerful method of increasing our well-being. Often we get too caught up in the day-to-day activities and emotions which leave us complacent with our thought processes. Without training ourselves to look for things to be grateful for, we tend to only experience the negative aspects of life.
What are Gratitude and Serendipity
Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has. Cultivating gratitude is a reflective state and you have to stop and pause to think of the past and add positive meaning to it.
The definition of serendipity is, “finding something good without looking for it.” Many people think serendipity just happens to you, but I feel you can find it if you’re looking. Serendipity is there but often clouded by our day-to-day living. We need to take time to pause and allow serendipity to present itself.
Consider what you are grateful for and be open to possibilities. Even if things don’t go as planned, serendipity can surprise us by showing us an alternative to what is expected. Gratitude with serendipity reminds us that even in what seems to be the darkest times, there is still room for joy.
Best Tips to Have Gratitude With Serendipity
These are the steps we need in order to first practice gratitude and then open ourselves to find the serendipity this world has to offer.
1 Take Time To Pause, Reflect, and Journal
When people are suffering, it is difficult to write about things for which we are grateful. Gratitude is more than just what we have. Gratitude is also for what others do for us and what we can do for others. When we reflect and write these down, we shift our attention from our suffering and complacency to focusing our attention on the good.
Discovering what we are grateful for, encourages us to be kind to others. Through being kind, we will find even more to be grateful for and have many moments of serendipity through those interactions. Tell people how you appreciate them and what they are doing well.
2 Journal
Make it a part of your daily practice to pause, reflect, and write down what you are grateful for. Then take action to show kindness and appreciate the people that have influenced what you are grateful for.
Not everything you will be grateful for is a person’s action. I may be grateful for the flowers blooming in the spring or my dog’s happy tail that brings a smile to my face. These are just as important to realize, so please write these down as well.
3 Gain Clarity
Try following this exercise in identifying your core values. When we are living our values, we have clarity as to how we want to perceive our lives and how we want others to perceive us.
4 Bring Joy to Others
- Be like a beacon of light, to show that there is still good in the world.
- Mr. Thankful project
- Send notes of gratification. People like to be appreciated. Mail is always fun! Send notes to people to show gratification or compliment them.
John Israel of the Mr. Thank You Project
Be like a beacon of light to show that there is still good in the world. Compliment someone if you notice something they say or do. Maybe it’s the nail color or shoes they are wearing. Maybe their dog or child brings a smile to your face. Tell them!
Show kindness by doing something nice for someone. Hold the door open, bake cookies, and offer to assist a neighbor when needed.
Send notes of gratification. People like to be appreciated. Mail of gratitude is always a fun surprise and brings joy to others. Consider giving notes of appreciation to all of the “essential” workers during this time expressing your appreciation.
Check out this talk that John Israel of the Mr. Thank You Project gave. It is very inspirational. He also has a book out to inspire you.
5 Get Motivated
By trying new things or taking the time to reflect, you open yourself up so that you may find serendipity. Use this time of unrest to take action on the dreams that you have put aside and have always said someday…. Take time to take care of yourself. Have a spa day, start a workout plan, or try a new recipe.
The Last Thing You Need to Know about Having Gratitude With Serendipity
No matter what you may be going through, your feelings are valid. Keep in mind that your feelings don’t define who you are. Don’t confuse who you are with how you feel. As Dr. Pamela Paresky, author of a Year of Kindness, points out, “When you realize you have feelings, your feelings no longer have you.”
Don’t mistake this as denial about the crisis we are going through. The consequences of any crisis are intense and leave a devastating trail of destruction. It is okay to feel scared or tired or grumpy. We all have moments or seasons when this is real. Just take the time to pause and contemplate what you are grateful for and you may just find some serendipity.
What are you grateful for? Submit your tip below and be featured in an upcoming post.
