Being grateful means opening our minds and our hearts, non-judgmentally, to learning in every situation and always being thankful for what life brings. We become able to feel a feeling such as sadness and at the same time be grateful for the richness of experience originating from a much deeper place. Fortunately, in my own life, as I sought out learning and growth, I began to grasp the concept of finding a gift in everything. I discovered true gratitude goes much deeper than natural preferences and normal times of disappointment and frustration.
If we lack gratitude and dwell in uncertainty and doubt, judgment and criticism, we may believe that wholeness and happiness will only happen when we reach a certain goal or when things on the outside change. If we wait to respect and love ourselves until some external goal is achieved, the message we send ourselves is that we are incomplete as we are and must be fixed, adjusted or changed somehow.
When we live graciously, we honor all of life, living from trust strength, openness and an inner knowing that everything can be a vehicle for learning and is, in some way, a gift.
If you started each day with gratitude, what three things would you list?
If you ended each day with gratitude, what three things would you list?
Is there something you might consider being grateful for that bothers you?
Is there someone you might consider being grateful for who bothers you?
Practicing gratitude is really a decision to give up all belief in lack. The miracle of gratitude is that it changes your perception, it changes your brain and it changes your experience of the world. Gratitude is a training in vision that helps you recognize what is already here for you. Gratitude energizes you. Gratitude opens you up. Gratitude makes you attractive. The more you practice gratitude, the more abundant you will feel.
Exercise:
List three things that you are grateful for each morning and evening. They can be simple – all the better! Notice how your life changes over time by creating a grateful heart.