At the heart of a joy-centered life is the intention of living with gratitude. It's usually at the end of the year, near the holiday season, that we reflect on how fast time passes. During these reflective moments, our awareness of the limited quantity of minutes, hours, days, months, and years grasp our minds and hearts. In these moments, I've learned to lean into the faithfulness of God, my Creator. I take time to acknowledge the daily miracles in my life because there are plenty of some that I'm aware of and others I must be intentional to seek. With all the distractions, taking those simple daily miracles and blessings for granted is easy.

A gratitude journal is one of the powerful tools I use to help me remain intentional and cultivate a grateful heart. What is a gratitude journal - simply a blank page, whether in a notebook, leather journal, or digital app, that becomes filled with all the things you appreciate.

If you're not currently in the practice of living gratefully. Let's take a quick view of what living gratefully can look like.

First, let's consider the meaning of "grateful." Merriam-Webster as "appreciative of benefits received" and "affording pleasure or contentment." Now, I want to push us a bit further past these definitions to see that benefits are usually good, and pleasure and contentment are also very positive, but it's also equally important to learn the value of some of the events or moments that aren't as pleasing because in these moments we can also experience growth and healing.

Second, living gratefully means remaining aware of what is happening in the present. It's hard to live grateful if we're trying to live in past or future chapters of our lives instead of remaining on the full page of the current day. And even with embracing the page of the day, it's equally important to embrace it minute by minute or sentence by sentence. One of my favorite scriptures is a reminder that tomorrow will take care of itself. This same idea applies to maintaining awareness in the moment so gratitude can be practiced without hesitation.

Third, when living a life of gratitude and documenting it. You have your own personal testimony to refer back to when hard moments occur. Hard times and disappointments are not a limited edition. There is plenty to go around for us on more than one occasion. Since we know we are not absolved of experiencing disappointment, having a healthy, regular practice of gratitude will prepare us for any "new arrivals" in the form of heartache and pain.

My family, on more than one occasion, has experienced job loss, the death of loved ones, and life not happening as we hoped, even when my husband and I were intentional and thought we were doing the right thing. And it was in these moments I learned how to hold gratitude alongside pain. When you live with the good and not-so-great moments of life, your heart and spirit are less likely to succumb to the pain. Reflecting on these times, I can say that my family never went without, and we learned to hold space for those no longer here with us while continuing to live. I witnessed my prayers from years past being answered in a way that exceeded our expectations. These seasons of life will continue and are bound to happen, but what you do with them will make the difference.

Choosing to live with contentment isn't always easy. Sometimes, contentment can be seen as giving up or not trying hard enough, but that's not what contentment means. Contentment is “the state of being mentally or emotionally satisfied with things as they are.” Learning to remain present and embrace what is currently happening builds the ability to live in contentment. Now, again, this is about developing a practice. Since we are humans, we will experience the ups and downs of life as humans and effort may be needed often to remain in a state of contentment.

When considering the current stock of your life, you might be amazed to see each element of your life that makes it full and uniquely yours.

If you need support on your journey to living gratefully, I'm a well-being life coach with experience and helping overwhelmed women go from daily frustration to living a more calm, intentional life where gratitude and contentment flow freely. Book your complimentary call to see how we can work together.

Let's share in the comments. What are you grateful for? What can you do today to cultivate a grateful life or deepen your gratitude practice?