I have an attitude of gratitude.
This mantra is not new or creative; I’m sure you’ve heard it in many yoga classes, and on internet memes. It might even seem cliche for the month of October! I believe that everything that brings goodness and joy into life, starts with a seed of gratitude. Everything. Gratitude is what helps the universe deliver abundance and release us from suffering. When we are able to express and experience gratitude, all things that come our way can be looked at as blessings and gifts.
When I look back at my own personal exploration of gratitude, beyond the obvious once a year Thanksgiving holiday recitations, it began in the days of the Oprah Winfrey show. She had a guest on her show speaking about gratitude journals and this was an “ah ha” moment for me. The premise was to write down one thing that you were grateful for before you went to sleep each night. Ok, simple enough. I didn’t have to re-hash my day, or think too much. Just find some gratitude for something, anything, write it down and give it some thought, my last conscious thought of the day. If I was having “one of those days” I could still find some gratitude for the one thing I will have as long as I am living; my breath.
The most amazing thing happens when we do this exercise: our attitude changes, our perspective on life shifts to a higher vibration. Gratitude vibrates at 540 MHz. Being grateful falls within the same frequency as love. The more time we can spend in gratitude, the more our body’s frequency rises and the healthier our body becomes. When we train our minds to become more gracious, the universe delivers more abundance, and our hearts open up to the beauty around us.
There is a saying that our minds are like gardens, and what do we want to grow, beautiful flowers or weeds? Gratitude, when watered by thoughts, grows…..and then blossoms into love!
In our community, let’s create a wave of gratitude throughout the month of October. The more we can each individually practice gratitude, the bigger the ripple that will travel out into our world.
The practice: Each day write down something you are grateful for; keep it honest and simple. Keep these daily seeds of gratitude somewhere visible; perhaps up on a wall, maybe by your bed, or in an area you use often. Keep them somewhere visible, where you can be reminded of living in a head and heart space of gratitude. As the month goes on, you’ll see your gratitude garden grow. At the end of the month, notice how you feel.
A few other ways to practice gratitude this month…
- Let others know how much you appreciate them. A few words like “I appreciate you” can warm the heart of both the bestower and the recipient. Get out there and give it away and see what happens.
- Make “gratitude” a daily conversation in your family. At dinner each night, have everyone say one thing they are grateful for from that day.
- Come to your senses. Through sense —the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive. Seen through the lens of gratitude, the human body is not only a miraculous construction, but also a gift.
- Practice gratitude for self – for your body, for your daily struggles, for your accomplishments, for taking care of you, for your dedication, for your flaws… the list goes on. Say it daily to yourself: “thank you”.
- Watch your language. Grateful people have a particular linguistic style that uses the language of gifts, givers, blessings, blessed, fortune, fortunate, and abundance.
Written by Nicole Whitman. Edited by Prestonne Sehn.