ANNOUNCEMENT | WRITING PROMPT

What Are You Grateful For?

Dancing Elephants prompt 8 of 52

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought it might be a good idea to pause and count our blessings, appreciate what we have in our lives and perhaps, even make it a habit to list something we are grateful for on a daily basis.

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts. — Henri Frederic Amiel

Gratitude means different things to different people and then, there are those that brush it off and don’t believe in it. I know, right? But to each her own.

What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude. — Brene Brown

Gratitude is that feeling, that emotion we feel when we are thankful for something, or someone. Say someone brings you a cup of coffee and you appreciate it, you’re being thankful. You can also feel thankful for that green light while driving to work, a gift you received, your friend, your family — anything.

In addition, gratitude is also a sense of awareness — recognizing that you acknowledge the good in your life, your world. When you express this awareness, you’re being grateful.

Simple, right?

Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul. — Amy Collette

When we’re grateful, it changes our perception of life. With all that we experience on a daily basis, we can easily get sucked into the negative part and wallow in it.

As if our own lives aren’t enough, we’re also bombarded by the media escalating every nasty thing there is. But if you choose to focus on the good, it is not difficult to diminish the negativity. Gratitude can be a powerful way to do this as it changes the way we feel inside.

Research studies find that practicing gratitude brings plenty of health benefits.

To list just a few, people who practice gratitude:

• Are happier, more optimistic, and more satisfied
• Are less anxious and depressed
• Have stronger immune systems with
• Have fewer symptoms of illness
• Sleep better
• Enjoy stronger relationships
• Recover faster from trauma
• Feel more connected
• Do not play the blame game
• Show more empathy
• Are non-judgmental
• Are more compassionate
• Recognize and appreciate what they have
• Attract more happiness
• Live a better quality of life

In fact, gratitude transforms the way you see your life. You focus on what you have rather than what you don’t. You know what they say about getting what you expect. When you expect good things to happen, they do.

Which brings us to the question…

How do you practice gratitude?

Believe it or not, it can be hard to practice gratitude sometimes, simply because we may not be in the mood to do so.

There may be days when you feel you’ve run out of things to be grateful for. So, a little nudge can be helpful. The good news is, there is nothing too big or too small to express gratitude for

Which is why it is best to create the habit of practicing gratitude.

How?

The easiest and most effective way is to start a gratitude journal, where you can write down what you’re grateful for on a daily/weekly basis. Your journal can be a physical gratitude journal or a digital one.

I personally prefer to hand write in my pretty, pretty journal, playing with colored pencils and sometimes doodling — there’s a special joy in writing, seeing the words on paper.

And yes, gratitude needs practice.

The transformation in your mindset does not happen overnight — that is why it needs to be a habit. The shift is gradual and over time, you’ll feel lighter, happier, and more appreciative of what you have.

‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. — Alice Walker

It can be as simple as just listing 3 things every day!

Prompt 8 of 52

The theme is gratitude. Here are 6 prompts. Interpret it in any way you want; use all or one . . . It is up to you!

1. 3 things I am grateful for in my life

2. What I love most about my home

3. This week, I am grateful for this (a special moment, an event)

4. A gadget I am grateful for

5. Something from the past that I’m grateful for is…

6. A gift that I’m most grateful for is…

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. — Cynthia Ozick

Mix, match and enjoy!

Guidelines:

• Please use this subtitle: In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 8 of 52
• Use the tag: dancingelepehantspress
• You can respond to this prompt whenever you please, there is no time limit.

Enjoy the previous prompts in this series on the live book page

Curious about the previous weeks’ prompts? Here’s the list

Do visit, comment and engage ❤

Questions or suggestions? Please contact the pub’s editors or email us at [email protected]

With love from your editors:

Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Sharing Randomly and Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Dr. Preeti Singh

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Dear Writers, Thank you for being here with us at Dancing Elephants Press and helping send positivity out to the world.

Jo An Fox-Wright Maddox, Antonis Iliakis, Dr. Preeti Singh, Sharing Randomly, Trista Signe Ainsworth, Ayoub Mouhachtt, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Carrie, Cynthia A. Morgan, Cypriano Mokobia, Tunnel Books, author and creator, Francis Edwards, Filiz Özer, Christina DeFeo, Natalie Gasper, Alejandro Betancourt, Neal Lemery, Art Bram, Victoria Gregg, Jodian Marie Thomas, MS, Bsc, Asc, Sumit Kumar, Siobhan Champion, Synthia Stark, Saif Farooqi, PhD, Rane Kelze, Rahul Anand, Nimity, Nikki Waterson, B.R. Shenoy, Umme Salma, Nathalie Clair, Marrisa W., Kevin J Fellows, Kedy, E. Katherine Kottaras, Judey Kalchik, Darlene Corbett, DR Rawson — The Possibilist, Holly Faupel, Pius Adejumobi, Bright Okeye, Andreas D., Alex Lorenzen, Agnes Davis, Adam Nathan Wieland, Bridie D, Tamil, Carmen Micsa, Lucia Landini, CARMEN F MICSA, Juana Flor, Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar, Alan Simpson, Nada Chehade, Purbita Chakraborty, Niall Leah, Anjali Joshi, B.R. Shenoy, Suma Narayan, Karen Schwartz, Pene Hodge, Lola Rosario, Vashni Stories, Libby Shively McAvoy, Mary Vraa, Christina, Sally Prag, Bernie Pullen, Bingz Huang, Arup Purkayastha, Jennifer Dunne, Mawde Olssen, Jodie Helm, Erin M., Anaya Nosso, Barbara Cook, DesaraeBlack, Divya Goswami, Misti Lynn, Patricia Pixie❤, David Amato, Omy, Drashti Shroff, Mahein Kazi, Lalitha Brahma, Ticapo, Shev K, Amanda Payne, Amina Giselle, B A Little, Life not abrupt (L.n.a.), Aarti Tailor, Adriianna Lagorio, Amaya Island Girl, Dave Amato, DR Rawson — The Possibilist, Paul Gardner, Gulsun Uluer, Janet Mary Cobb (she/her), Jielynne Barao, Jerry Pompilio, Kasturi Patra, Lillian Esther, Mohini Vats, Neera Handa Dr, Neha Sonney, Author, Patrick Parker, Pam Winter, Susie Pinon, AliB, Ron Van Fleet, Shaqib Akram, Zack Harris, Pauline Evanosky, David Stockar, Anurag Paul, Anna Boulas, Blogs by J, Nicki J, Sahil Patel, Deb Fiore, Pam Avila, Buddhi Ruparathna, Kerrie Gutierrez-Diaz, Allisonn Church, The Sturg, Melissa Gray, G. Hobson Goff III

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Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?

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