Did you roll your eyes at the title of the blog? Even just a little bit? I mean gratitude has made its rounds in the productivity and self-help and mental health circles and then some. There are gratitude journals, gratitude practices, gratitude planners, and gratitude decks. It all seems so cliche and overdone now.
But, I don’t want you to fall into the trap of thinking gratitude was a trend. That it is old and over done. Please don’t.
Because gratitude is fundamental-- for your general well being and positive attitude (we will get to positive thinking without toxic positivity in another blog, stay with me!) It is fundamental to learning and growth. And it is fundamental to forgiveness-- of yourself and others.
Being grateful is a gift (HA! Having gratitude for gratitude is so META.) Being grateful is FINDING the gift. In anything. And everything. It is a bottomless well of life affirming, forward thinking, love generating, challenge surmounting super powers.
And while it is true that we are all born with varying temperaments, gratitude itself is a habit that can be learned, unlearned, and practiced until it becomes our de facto response to the external circumstances of life.
So, while those gratitude journals and practices and card decks may be overdone and out of fashion, finding a way to cultivate gratitude in your life everyday should not be.
If you don’t know where to start, my advice would be to start small. I would suggest you pick a relatively mindless behavior you perform every evening, it doesn’t need to be immediately before bed, but late enough you have most of your day to look back on. And while you are doing that thing, maybe cleaning up after dinner, or making tomorrow’s lunch, or brushing your teeth, or doing the rounds of your house turning off lights and locking the door-- think about your day, and identify the thing you are most grateful for. There are days you will have a list longer than your arm and be pressed to pick the topper, and some days you will struggle to find even one thing. But everyday, pick something. (And while it's okay to repeat yourself sometimes, try to find new things more often than not.) Write it down somewhere if you like, or create a quick appointment in your electronic calendar if you are not a Luddite like me. But, the writing down part isn’t necessary. The practice is to have and hold the thought. To think, “I am grateful for…” and really have the experience of gratitude. Let your heart fill, truly embody the emotion; you might find yourself tearing up, or laughing, or just plain smiling, but let the emotion flow through your whole self. Spend time holding the moment with your memory.
As we head into the season of Thanksgiving this year, it’s always a great time to ponder the ideas of gratitude. I hope the day knocks some of the dust off of it for you. And perhaps, inspires you to bring the practice deeper into your everyday life.
Today-- I’m grateful for you, dear reader.
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