World Gratitude Day is celebrated annually on the 21st September. The celebration of Gratitude Day allows both individual citizens and organizations within wider society to celebrate the broad meaning of gratitude in a variety of ways. More information on Gratitude Day can be found here.
Learn about World Gratitude Day
World Gratitude Day has been designed to bring the whole world together in a day that is all about being thankful. World Gratitude Day joins organizations, nationals, and individuals in sharing their gratitude in a number of different ways.
A little bit of gratitude can go a very long way. It is important for people to feel appreciated for everything that they do. There are also many other benefits that are associated with giving gratitude. Did you know that it is actually good for your own health too? Being thankful results in a whole host of emotional and physical benefits. For instance, you can boost your immune system, lower stress levels and improve sleep by being thankful.
If that was not enough, gratitude can also help to improve self-esteem and lower symptoms of depression. If all of this was not enough, you can enhance your professional and social skills too. Who knew that expressing gratitude could offer so many amazing benefits?
History of World Gratitude Day
The celebration started in 1965 in Hawaii when an international gathering decided that it would be a good idea to have one day per year to formally express gratitude and appreciation for the many wonderful things to be found in the world. Following the meeting in Hawaii, many attendees marked Gratitude Day on 21st September 1966 when back in their own countries. Ever since then, the number of people celebrating Gratitude Day across the world has grown and grown.
How to celebrate World Gratitude Day
The awareness of the benefits of having time in one’s life for gratitude, appreciation and positive reflection have become increasingly apparent. The hope of the founders of Gratitude Day is that by taking time, one day a year, to reflect on the many amazing things we have in our lives, it would positively impact our well-being and make us happier, more contented people.
There are so many different ways that you can be thankful on World Gratitude Day. This includes simply being thankful for the fact that you have woken up and experienced a brand new day. There are lots of other things that you should be thankful for as well. If you have a pet, your loyal pet is definitely worthy of your gratitude. You can also be thankful for the beautiful nature, which provides us with sunsets and many other blessings. We often take our health for granted as well, yet this is another thing that you should appreciate. You can also be grateful for your job, which gives you a purpose, feeds your children, and pays the bills. You can also be thankful for the roof that is over your head. Some people don’t have a hame to live in, and so this is something you should always be grateful for.
There are a number of different things that you can do in order to celebrate World Gratitude Day. One thing that you can do is starting keeping a gratitude journal. This is something that everyone in the family can do. You can make sure you write down all of the things that you are thankful for. Keeping a gratitude journal has been shown to increase people’s sense of happiness by forcing them to acknowledge the happy and positive moments in their day, irrespective of how insignificant they may appear. Whether it is an awe-inspiring sunset, a compliment from a friend, or just a smile from a stranger, we can all feel more joyful and a lot calmer if we appreciate these experiences. This is the sort of activity that all ages can get involved with. In fact, we think it is a great thing for children to do because it helps them to appreciate the things they have in life.
It is also a good idea to try and eat together as a family on World Gratitude Day. It does not matter whether your family is whole, broken, or blended, all families are beautiful and it is important to be thankful for the different people that we have in our lives. Having a meal together and enjoying some family time is important. You can all take about your day and discuss the different things that you are thankful for. One idea that is becoming very popular is to have a gratitude jar whereby you can put in thankful statements throughout the year. You can then read through them on World Gratitude Day.
Aside from the ideas that have been suggested so far, another way to spend World Gratitude Day effectively is to take the time to help those that are less fortunate than us. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that do not have a roof over their heads nor do they have any food on the table. This is why it is important for people that are in more privileged positions to do their bit in order to help. If you take a look online, you will be able to find more about the work that is being done by amazing charities, organizations, homeless shelters and such like. You can offer a donation or you can donate your time instead. Of course, there are ways that you can help the less fortunate without going through these sorts of organizations. You could, for example, donate some of the things that you no longer want or need to those that are less fortunate, such as an old computer or smartphone. You can also put together food parcels for families that need them in your local area as well. If you do a bit of digging online, you will find plenty of inspirational stories about how people have helped others and these can inspire you too.
Reprinted from: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-gratitude-day/
