Gratitude

I absolutely love the part of the definition that says “readiness to show appreciation”. It reminds me to be ready and anticipating, pre-meditating my kindness approach. I love it! I often am reactive with my gratitude instead of proactive. I act like I need to wait for something “good” to happen before I decide to show up with a spirit of gratitude. I don’t want to be passive with my gratitude and am working on intentionally being grateful. 

Physical Spaces–  Every single thing you own was created by someone and most likely many many many someones! The number of people it takes to make a car or house or each item of food in your fridge or pantry is astounding if you think about it. We are all so interconnected when it comes to our survival and quality of life. If you spend any time thinking about this, you can’t help but be extremely grateful for the people around the world and the items you have. 

When you bought it, be grateful you had the means to purchase it. Now some of you may be thinking, “well I really didn’t have money to buy this” or “I put this on credit”. 

Don’t worry about that, you can still be grateful for the item and grateful for the money lessons you have learned. 

Again, you can always start right now to make changes. You can sell things that you no longer need, use, or love. 

Mental Space– Staying in a mindset of gratitude, always seems to slow the hustle of life down, and you just get to be present in the moment. Mindfulness has been such a buzz word the last couple of years, and I think it’s closely related to gratitude because it causes us to slow down, to listen, to just be. 

Having a mindset of gratitude, makes you see the appreciation in things big, small, and everywhere in between. It gives us pause to notice and look for the gratefulness that surrounds us at every moment. 

Try it out right now. What are you grateful for? 

One reminder I use is to ask myself and others to answer this question, each time we have a meal. I even use it with my coworkers, and most seems happy to participate!

Relationships– Finding gratitude in relationships can be a real game changer. Just imagine how you would feel if someone close in your life told you today, “I am so appreciative of your smile,” or “I am grateful for all the chores you do around here.” I will guess that you would feel so grateful they said that to you! You would smile and say thank you and probably reciprocate the gratitude. 

It’s not enough to just think it inside, share it with the people you care for. 

Now a quick word of warning, sharing gratitude or receiving gratitude can many times bring up uncomfortable feelings. 

You may feel vulnerable sharing. What if the other person makes fun of you for being mushy? That’s their reaction. Don’t take it on. 

It can also bring up feelings of unworthiness. If someone tells you something they appreciate about you, and you feel the need to dismiss it or shamefulness comes up, practice saying “thank you for telling me.” 

You are lovable and worthy. 

Don’t retreat from yourself. Also, if I’m describing you here, don’t worry. You are not alone and you can learn to receive gratitude. 

It can be very helpful to start with a gratitude practice. 

Each morning and night, say out loud one thing you are grateful for about yourself and one thing you are grateful for about something else. 

An example would be “I’m grateful I have vision that allows me to see flowers.” 

Do this everyday for two weeks and see how your perspective on yourself and your attitude of gratitude grows!

Final Thoughts on Gratitude