P.M.A. All Day
What is P.M.A. all about? Positive Mental Attitude can be your key to changing your outlook on life, reframing negative experiences, and attracting more positive experiences to yourself. A great way to begin to adopt this attitude or simply recommit yourself to a more positive lifestyle is by making a daily practice of creating a Gratitude List.
Gratitude lists are a great way to either begin the day or close out your evening, which time you choose will depend on your preference and what you find works best for you. As is always true, the option you will actually do is the best choice for you. I personally like to create my list in the mornings, this way if I forget to get to it I can catch up as soon as I remember. Many people prefer to craft their list in the evening, this way they can reflect on what was gratitude inducing in their day. These lists are not too much of a commitment and you may find that their impact is huge for you!
To begin your list making you may want to invest in a new notebook that you can dedicate for your daily lists, in the beginning you can of course begin simply in your notes app if you have an iPhone or on any notepad you can keep handy, like on your nightstand. Next, take a few moments to reflect on a few meaningful things in your life you are grateful for that day. Aim to make each thing meaningful to you, for example you can write that you are grateful for Sunday phone calls to your mom or early morning nature hikes with your dog, Scruffy. This doesn’t have to be too intense like some days I am simply grateful for my favorite brand of toothpaste and the salty, minty zing it allows me to start my day with. I like to list 5 elements each day though if you feel stumped try to come up with 3 points at least. This awareness can start or end your day on a positive note and will help you to see how much we all have to be grateful for.
A fun example of the long lasting changes in my life thanks to my regular gratitude practice is a day when my car wouldn’t start and I was very stressed and naturally upset by this, I was able to reframe this by putting a lens of gratitude on it. Instead of beginning the day with stress, I acknowledged that I was grateful for the on demand car sharing service Uber that allowed me to still make my appointment on time. I was also grateful that I was fortunate enough to be able to afford to take this ride as in the past I was dependent on the city bus to get around. While it was frustrating that my car wasn’t working I was also reminded that I was still so fortunate to have so many options to overcome this obstacle.
That’s pretty much it! I like to share my gratitude list with a few close friends in a group chat and I often get great perspective from their lists as well. When a person makes their way onto my gratitude list it is also a special moment to share with them what they mean to me and how I feel grateful for them. We never know what someone may be going through and showing our appreciation for the people in our life can have a great impact and will always come back in good favor from the universe. I hope you enjoy adding this practice to your routine and I would love for you to share today’s Gratitude List in the comments below along with any questions or requests you may have.
With Gratitude,
Maddison Lee
