With Thanksgiving right around the corner for those of us in the United States, I was prompted to create a blog post all about gratitude.

But in this conversation, I’m sharing how you can practice and embody gratitude when life or business just gets hard because let’s be real… Life and business can get really hard. And feeling grateful during those seasons… Well, that can get hard.

Perhaps you are in a waiting season right now and you’re starting to lose hope. Or maybe you’ve been in a famine and now you’re waiting on the feast. Perhaps you’ve been sowing seeds and tilling the soil and now you’re just exhausted, and you’re wondering where your harvest is.

Maybe you’ve been single for years and you’re waiting on your spouse, or maybe you’re going through a really difficult time with your spouse, best friend, or even a client. Maybe you’re questioning everything because you just feel stuck and nothing is working. Or maybe you’ve been trying for a baby and you’re feeling hopeless because it’s just not coming.

Maybe you’ve been working on your business for years and you still don’t see a financial blessing. If you’re in a season like this, I want you to know that I have had my fair share of them. I’ve honestly had so many, and I think it’s safe to say that the majority of humans, if not all humans, go through seasons like this.

This blog post is meant to discuss gratitude from these perspectives because I know it can be difficult to embody thanksgiving and gratitude when you are going through these seasons.

So, if you are ready to learn three ways you can embody gratitude when life or business gets really, really hard, keep on reading.

But before we dive into the three ways to embody gratitude, I think it’s really important to talk about the difference between feeling and embodying, because as you can tell by the title, I said three ways to embody gratitude. I did not say three ways to feel grateful because there is a difference. 

Because truthfully, it’s not just about feeling grateful because feelings are fleeting.

It’s important to embody a state of gratitude rather than just feeling it. We don’t want to get out of that state as quickly as our emotions change. We want to stay in this. 

I think it’s important to mention that you can experience feelings of sadness while also embodying gratitude. Just like you can experience the emotions of sadness or anger, but still embody a peace that passes understanding and a deep, unwavering joy because of Jesus.

The same is true for the opposite. You can experience the emotion of happiness, but still embody a deep, unwavering sadness that you can’t explain.

Now that being said, if you feel like this is you and you feel like you might be embodying a state of heaviness, sadness, loneliness, discouragement, or disappointment, and it’s not just like this feeling… It’s actually just this overwhelming state that you’re in.

If this is you, then I want you to check out episode 42. It’s titled, Five Steps to Biblically Work through Feelings of Heaviness, Discouragement, and Disappointment. This episode will help you navigate through that state of being, so I highly recommend checking it out. In addition, I would also recommend episode 4 of this show, which is titled, How to Trust God and Move Forward in the Valleys of Life and Business.

I really think these episodes would benefit you a lot, so please check those out after you go through this one. There are a lot of golden nuggets in there that I know will help you.

But now that we know the difference between feeling and embodying, let’s go ahead and get into the three ways we can embody gratitude when things get a little rough.

#1 Record Miracle Moments

Number one is very simple, and that is to record Miracle Moments. This could also be known as a gratitude journal, but for me, I love to record Miracle Moments that happen throughout the day, and essentially a Miracle Moment is a moment in which you see God’s hand in your life.

Maybe the money for a bill you haven’t been able to pay just comes in out of nowhere. Or maybe you actually connected with an ideal client today, or maybe you just gained an ideal client as a follower on Instagram today. It can be big, or it can be small. I highly recommend recording all of them because they are all miracle moments (no matter the size). 

And when you do this, you are actually training your mind to look for the good. You’re training your mind to look for miracles. And of course, this is going to help you embody that gratitude state, because you’re constantly looking for those miracle moments. And for me, I just have a note in the Notes app on my phone that’s titled Miracle Moments.

Just doing it on the Notes app is easy. It’s simple. You pretty much always have your phone with you, so it just works. 

In addition to this, you can also implement a morning or evening routine where you record your Miracle Moments, but that is totally up to you. You can write them in your Notes app and then pull out the app when you go to your journal. I highly recommend doing this because it just sinks in even more. 

The reason I’m recording Miracle Moments on my phone in the Notes app is not just because it’s easy, or that I’m trying to train my brain, but it is also so I can look back at those moments. Whether you decide to journal or not, I highly recommend on a daily basis, morning or evening (or both) to just look through all those Miracle Moments in your Notes app because it can be really hard to be grateful during hard seasons. But when you start training your brain to look for the good and to look for the miracles, even when you’re in those difficult seasons, you’re going to start realizing there is so much good happening all the time. 

All things work together for the good of those who love him according to his purpose. 

–Romans 8:28

I’m going to be referring to this verse a lot in this blog post.

That being said, please record Miracle Moments. This will single-handedly transform your mindset.

I firmly believe it. This is something I teach my clients, something that I do personally, and I hope that you implement it as well.

#2 Reflect and Reframe

The second way you can embody gratitude is by reflecting and reframing. 

In other words, how can we reframe the difficult times in our lives to acknowledge how God is using this for his good, our good, and his purpose?

Because yes, God is using this situation for our good, his good, and his purpose. Romans 8:28 says…

All things work together for the good of those who love him according to his purpose.

Now that being said though, I do just want to note here that God is not causing these bad things to happen to you, but He is absolutely using what is happening for your good.

I’ve personally found that reframing and reflecting on these seasons can often help us deepen our gratitude because it really does help you embody gratitude from the inside out. I also think it’s important to share that there is nothing wrong with having feelings. God made us this way, so being grateful doesn’t mean we need to just shove away any negative feelings or emotions.

It’s more about realizing that even when things get rough, God is still in control and all things work together for your good and his purpose. And because of that, your experiences with these challenges in this season can absolutely be transformed. To do this, you can reframe the negativity about these seasons or instances into a positive idea of an opportunity or a challenge, or room for growth for you.

If you want to do this, I actually have some journaling prompts for you. Definitely get a notebook and pen and write these prompts down because I know you will love them during your quiet time.

That being said, I have four questions for you.

What is God teaching me through this experience or this season?

How have I grown through this experience?

What obstacles or challenges have I overcome through this experience? 

Who does God want to be for me in this season? Is he wanting to be your comforter, your physician, your father, your husband, or something else? 

Please take the time to journal through these. I highly recommend blocking off 30 minutes to an hour and journaling through these. I know that’s a large time commitment, but it is totally worth it because you will get to truly learn and embody a state of gratitude, which will help lead you to that state of joy and peace.

#3 Develop a Growth Mindset

You’re probably wondering, “why is this important for gratitude?” 

Hear me out. 

A growth mindset is a mindset where you understand that your talent, your beliefs, your skills, your intelligence continue to develop. Meaning, you know you will continue to grow. 

However, the opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, meaning that your beliefs, your intelligence, your skills, etc. cannot be changed. They are fixed and there’s no room for growth.

That being said, if you have a fixed mindset, you may not be embodying a state of gratitude simply because you do not ever believe that you or your situation can ever change.

And because of this, it may also be difficult to see the good in difficult times or seasons. 

Therefore, developing a growth mindset is actually very important for embodying gratitude. 

Because of that, I have three different tips for you to start developing a growth mindset. 

These tips were very much inspired by a blog post I discovered by Intelligent Change, which I will link for you right HERE.

Three Tips to Start Developing a Growth Mindset

#1 View a Challenge as an Opportunity

Let’s go ahead and dive into tip number one, and that is to view a challenge as an opportunity.

I know that this can be really difficult. I have found that a lot of the time if you aren’t able to view a challenge as an opportunity, you might be dealing with a fear of failure. And fear of failure is very deeply rooted.

If you think you might be dealing with this, I actually talk about it in episode two, which is called 5 Ways You Might Be Self-Sabotaging and How to Biblically Stop It. In it, I talk about fear of failure, so definitely tune into that if you find this might be something you’re dealing with.

The best way to start seeing challenges as opportunities is to consistently reflect and reframe, which we just discussed above. It was the second way to embody gratitude. And yes, it takes time, but it is oh so worth it because you will be developing that growth mindset. 

Tip #2 The Process is More Important Than The End Result

I’ve said this before in a couple of other podcast episodes, but it is so important to enjoy the journey because there really is no destination.

This probably won’t make sense unless you’re already embodying a growth mindset, because even if you achieve a goal or get the thing you want, that’s not your ultimate destination because there will always be another destination. There will always be another level. There will always be something else you’re working towards.

That being said, this mindset shift is crucial to help you develop that growth mindset. 

Tip #3 Growth Is More Important Than Speed

All things work together for the good of those who love him according to his purpose.

–Romans 8:28

That being said, obstacles can be good because they can help you grow. And God cares so much about your spiritual growth.

He really, really cares. And I would probably bet that He cares way more about your spiritual growth than He does about your finances. 

Don’t get me wrong though.

He cares about your finances. He cares about every part of you. 

But if things are working together for our good, that means that these obstacles can be catalysts for our growth, and most likely for our spiritual growth, because He is really trying to shift us and bring us closer to Him at every moment.

And ultimately, it’s going to help the growth for the Kingdom of God.

This tip actually reminds me of one of the prayers in episode 41 of this show, which is 5 Daily Prayers for Every Christian Entrepreneur, Leader and Business Owner. 

I highly recommend listening to that when you can, but the prayer I’m referring to is…

“Not my will, but yours, God. Not my strength, not my words, not on my timeline, but yours.”

All of that to say, that concludes the three ways to embody gratitude when life or business just gets really hard. 

If you have any questions at all, or if you want to let me know that you’ll be practicing these three different ways to embody gratitude, I would love to invite you to join our free Facebook community. 

In addition, if you love this blog and podcast, and you love content like this, then you have got to get on the list for Make it Reign MAIL, so you can receive faith-fueled life and business coaching sent straight to your inbox.

I can’t wait to see you over there. So much love to you.