Saying thank you to people who have given you a gift or done something nice for you is a good start, but gratitude is so much more than words – scientifically speaking, it is an emotion, too. However, unlike other emotions, gratitude is learned, and it doesn’t always come easy.
Once you learn how to be grateful, though, you will find that it enriches your life beyond measure, and that of those around you, too. Grateful people are happier than those who take life, love, and everything in-between for granted, and happiness is the true definition of success.
But how do you learn to feel and show gratitude? Well, as the old saying goes: Practice Makes Perfect. In this article, I am going to show you 20 gratitude affirmations that you can repeat every day to make you thankful and mindful of the joys already in your life.
1. “I Am Grateful”
Starting with the simplest of all, this is the perfect way to start your gratitude affirmation practice. Simply saying the words ‘I am grateful’ will make you think of something which you are thankful for, which sets the ball rolling beautifully.
2. “I Find Something to be Grateful For Every Single Day”
No matter what, there is always something to be grateful for, even though it may seem, on the surface at least, that everything is going wrong.
By choosing to be grateful for at least one thing, you are sifting through the good things in your life, and the more you look, the more you will find.
3. “I am Open to Receiving Abundance”
This affirmation is so important for several reasons:
- By openly declaring to yourself, the universe, or your own chosen higher power, you are inviting good things into your life.
- Being open to receiving abundance automatically raises your vibrational frequency, and in the world of spiritual metaphysics, like attracts like. So the higher your own energy, the higher the energy you will attract back to you.
- Having an abundance mindset makes you more creative, which will in turn allow you to see the many possibilities available to you that are often invisible to those with a closed mindset.
- Being open to abundance puts you in a state of growth, which will quite literally allow things to blossom in your life.
4. “The Power to Change Things Which No Longer Serve Me Lies With Me”
This affirmation is a powerful one for anyone (most of us) who has aspects of their life that they don’t like, but which they accept as a given. By repeating this mantra you are being mindful of your own situations, and giving yourself permission, encouragement, and strength to make changes for the better.
5. “I Am Here, Right Now”
Sounds obvious, I know, but this one is all about being present in the moment.
Much of our lives are spent on autopilot, but we miss out on so much that way. Saying these words out loud will bring your awareness to the here and now, and allow you to notice the things around you – the blue sky, the rain on your face, the smell of dinner cooking. Not only that, but it also helps you to become aware of your own feelings, too.
Mindfulness and gratitude go hand in hand, and by noticing what’s happening in and around you now will allow you to be grateful for those things, too.
6. “I Am So Grateful to be Here”
And by here, you mean alive. Waking up each morning is a blessing, the greatest blessing of all, and is certainly something to be celebrated for so many reasons:
- Waking up every day is a gift so many people are denied, and once you realize, or recognize, the fragility of life, you will feel gratitude every time you open your eyes.
- By being thankful for your existence, you will naturally want to make the most of it.
7. “I Am Worthy to Receive”
It doesn’t matter what it is you would like more of in your life; if you don’t believe you are worthy of it, it probably won’t come. Or rather, the opportunity will come along but you will be so convinced that you don’t deserve it that you will let it pass by. This can manifest itself in many different scenarios.
- Love. If you don’t feel worthy of love, even the most ardent of suitors will be unable to get through the wall of resistance you have built around yourself.
- Money. Many people are frightened of money, believing that money is the root of all evil, or growing up in scarcity and believing it always has to be that way. Change your mindset around money by repeating ‘I am worthy to receive’, and you will find that you start to attract more money into your life.
- Success. The thing which stops us from succeeding in life is our belief that we’re not good enough. That lack of self-belief is as limiting as a set of restraints, and will physically hold you back from going after what you want. Believe you are worthy of it and watch your self-confidence and success grow.
8. “I Only Attract Positive Energy”
Like attracts like is the cornerstone of the Law of Attraction, and the last thing any of us wants to attract is negativity. By raising your own frequency, or vibe, you will attract the same higher energy in return, making your life exponentially better and more abundant. And one way to do that is by repeating this affirmation.
9. “I am Thankful For My Health”
Spend a few moments every day being truly grateful for your health. Okay, we all wake with various aches and pains as we get older, and few of us escape the odd cold or flu, but while these things are annoying, we know they will pass. Being healthy means that you are able to enjoy life, and spend time with family and friends.
10. “I Live Every Day in Awareness”
Perfect for mindfulness, this mantra will – when repeated often – bring your mind to the present. Living in awareness doesn’t mean being on high alert 24/7 (because that would be exhausting), but rather that you notice the seemingly insignificant things in life that we usually take for granted. When you become aware of these, you become aware of how much you actually have to be grateful for.
11. “I Am Blessed With the Body I Have”
Almost everyone has a hang-up about some aspect of their body, but this gratitude affirmation will quickly change negativity into positivity. Every part of your body serves a purpose, so thank it for the job it does and the things it enables you to do. For instance:
- That nose you dislike allows you to smell freshly roasted coffee, roses in bloom, and the perfume or cologne of your favorite person.
- If your teeth are less than straight, so what? They enable you to chew delicious food, which then fuels your body so you can enjoy another day.
- Your thighs might be wobbly but they keep you standing upright for hours and hours on end, so you can go shopping, or queue for a concert, or walk in the beautiful mountains or along a stunning beach.
- Those stretch marks on your stomach are the stripes you’ve earned by bringing a new life into this world.
- Do you wish your butt was smaller? That behind allows you to sit down at the end of the day and relax, so you can enjoy a glass of wine, a night in front of the TV, or a meal out with your loved one.
Learn this affirmation and you will be well on the way to living a life of gratitude and abundance because once you learn to love yourself, you will learn to love life.
12. “I Am Focused on Gratitude and Positivity”
Being focused on positivity and gratitude means that you are less likely to notice negativity in your life. The more you pay attention to the good things, the more the bad will fade into insignificance.
13. “I Am Thankful For the Abundance Flowing Into My Life”
Even if you don’t feel like much abundance is flowing into your life, stating your affirmations as if they are already happening will strengthen them beyond measure. If you say ‘I am thankful for the abundance which will flow into my life’, you are keeping yourself in a mental state of scarcity in which abundance is yet to come, so it is counterintuitive. Remember, like attracts like.
14. “I Interrupt Anxiety With Gratitude”
This a great mindfulness affirmation for anyone who suffers from anxiety, because it makes you aware of anxious thoughts as they strike. By declaring your intention, you will find that before long, your mind will automatically switch from any anxious thought into a positive one:
- “I’m not even going to try this in case I screw it up” can be switched to “This is a great opportunity to prove what I can do.”
- “This could go badly wrong” can be reframed as “Imagine how great this will feel when I get it right.”
15. “I Choose to Replace Worry With Acceptance”
Some situations in life can be changed, and some of them are out of our control, but one thing’s for certain – worrying about them robs us of happiness twice. We worry about something happening before it’s happened, and then again if and when it does. Knowing that something is inevitable provides you with a wonderful opportunity:
- Suppose your partner is given to flying into a rage. That’s theirs to own, not yours. You can’t change how they behave but you can change how you deal with it, which gives you the impetus to walk away from a toxic situation instead of endlessly worrying about the next episode.
- Your landlord has decided to sell the house and you have two months to leave. Okay, that’s a huge upheaval, but there’s nothing you can do to change your landlord’s mind and you can’t afford to buy the house. You can either sit and worry about being homeless (and therefore end up actually homeless), or you can see it as an opportunity to move to a better area, or go traveling, or try life on the road in an RV. You’ve accepted the situation, and taken back control.
It’s worth noting that acceptance is not the same as approval; you’re not giving a bad situation permission to continue (approval), you are giving yourself permission to change how you react to something which is going to happen (acceptance).
16. “I Create My Own World”
Another powerful mindfulness affirmation is the reminder that you create your own world. At any given moment, you can steer your life and your surroundings in another direction, and that is a powerful state of mind. It encourages you to look at who you are and what you have, and move things forward in a way that suits you.
17. “I Will Be Accepting and Not Judgmental”
Being judgmental is an easy habit to fall into, but it is so destructive. By repeating this mindfulness affirmation you will remind yourself to be more accepting of other people and not judge them on their choices.
We all do things differently – what someone else is wearing, doing, or eating is absolutely none of your business, and making it your business by judging them is incredibly toxic. This mantra will encourage you to live and let live and be much more mindful of your thoughts surrounding other people and situations.
18. “I Am Thankful For These Things Today”
Whether you choose to repeat this affirmation in the morning or before bed, choosing, say, three things to be thankful for is a wonderful way to begin or end the day. Not only will you be amazed at how many good things you actually have in your life, but you will start or finish the day off with a heart full of gratitude.
Of course, there is no limit to how many times you make these affirmations, so you could use them both morning and night for a double whammy of mindfulness, gratitude, and positivity.
19. “I Will Think Before I Speak”
Being mindful of how we speak and what we say is a super important skill to cultivate. They might be just words to you, but to the person on the receiving end, they could cause untold hurt and possibly stay with them for weeks, months, and even years to come. Being aware of how you speak to other people will make all the difference, both to you and to them.
20. “Thank You”
It doesn’t matter who you say ‘thank you’ to – yourself, God, the Universe – the fact that you are saying it is a recognition and appreciation on your part that you have good things in your life, and when we show and feel gratitude for those things, more of the same will follow.
For example, suppose you held the door open for the person behind you and they swanned straight through without saying thank you, or even smiling in acknowledgment. Are you likely to hold it open for them again? No.
But, suppose that person smiles and says thank you. Now how do you feel? Chances are that you’re going to hold the door open for that person again, right? By them being grateful for your kindness, they are attracting more of the same thing into their life.
Practicing gratitude and mindfulness go hand in hand because the latter makes you more aware, and the former makes you thankful for it. Life is so much richer for having an abundance of blessings, and by learning to not only recognize them but be grateful for them, you will multiply those blessings a hundredfold.
More on Gratitude:
- 20 Ways a Gratitude Journal Can Cultivate Positive Personal Change
- 11 Habits to Develop an Attitude of Gratitude In Every Situation
- 37 Gratitude Quotes to Make You Appreciate Your Life and Relationships
- 19 Easy Ways to Practice Gratitude When Your Thoughts Turn Negative
- 13 Most Powerful Gratitude Journal Prompts for the Morning and Evening
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