“You should never go to bed at night without being thankful and celebrating at least one thing in your life.” - Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith

Ever since I heard those words in March 2011 I’ve had an alarm programmed in my phone that goes off at 10pm every night that reads “Be Thankful and Celebrate One Thing.” All of my friends know about my gratitude alarm, and I make sure that everyone around me at 10pm, no matter where I am, takes a moment to be grateful for something in their life.

The benefits of a gratitude practice come from the consistency of it (as with just about everything). From the moment I heard Rev. Michael say the quote above, I knew I wanted to incorporate that into my life, and I immediately grabbed my brain’s external hard drive, aka my phone, and programmed an alarm that would repeat daily. If I didn’t do that I knew I would forget about it in just a few minutes.

If you really want to feel the benefits of a gratitude practice…