The evidence about the power of gratitude is clear: gratitude is good for you. And the best thing? It doesn’t cost a cent and is easy to do.
I was deliciously reminded of this when, on a quiet Friday night at home and spending some time on social media, @Ashwer_Wolf tweeted “tell me the best thing today”.
Here’s a taste of some of the fabulous responses:
- “Getting my fire back after a few years of quietly examining my core values and interests. It felt like I had died but in fact I shaved some parts of me away that weren’t good.”
- “Aldi Early Grey. It’s delicious. It’s cheap.”
- “Realising my dad is so very kind and wonderful in his own gruff way. And recognising I need to be a better son.”
- “Balloon dinosaur purchased from local markets…”
- “I tidied up the linen cupboard, been on To Do list for 18 months. It looks good.”
- “As expected, it was the coffee.”
- “Going for a walk. Never tire of the simple things in life.”
- “Finally finding exactly the right kind of overalls that Miss 14 has been looking for for months (double bonus they were second hand)
- “Harvesting three snake beans from my second attempt to grow.”
- “Finishing six days of work at 5pm, drinking that extra glass of Pinot Grigio knowing I can sleep in tomorrow morning and it’s raining. Wonderful.”
- “Diagnosing and fixing a blocked fireplace flue. Which probably sounds out-of-place here, but I was pleased about it.”
- “A rainbow!”
- “Finally understanding that accounting concept that’s been doing my head in.”
- “Pastrami on toast for after nap snack.”
- “Seeing my partners face when I gave him his birthday presents.”
- “My favourite chicken resumed laying eggs today after a 3-week break. It’s a little thing but today was uneventful.”
- “Listening to much needed rain falling outside and on the roof. And all the frogs and crickets that seemed to come alive after it fell.”
- “Got the printer to talk wirelessly to the laptop. And listened to the rain sloshing into the tank. Both wonderful.”
The big and the small, yet all significant. Such a simple question – what’s the best thing today – leads to such powerful feedback and effect.
So it got me wondering: how could this be incorporated into your day? What are some ways we can encourage gratitude using “what’s the best thing today? Here’s some starter ideas for you:
- Start your meetings with ‘what’s the best thing today?’.
- Discuss it over lunch with friends or colleagues; over dinner with family or friends.
- Ask ‘what’s the best thing today?’ on social media and see what the responses are
- Ask it as part of your voicemail message (the wonderful Corrinne Armour has this on her voice mail – every time I leave a message for her, it makes me smile even though I must have heard it dozens of times. I might even borrow the idea from her!)
- Have a ‘best thing today’ journal that you can note things in as you finish your day.
- What other ideas do you have?
And, more importantly, what’s your best thing today? Let me know – not only will it help you focus on the good things in life, it will help me have a fabulous day too!
Thanks – and have a great day!