So here is the super powerful tool that can change your mood instantly, decrease any stress, anxiety or fear…it is GRATITUDE…
Gratitude is simply the recognition and appreciation to something that touches your soul.
It is power. Recognizing the gifts that surround you at any moment shifts the mind and opens the heart.
- I find gratitude in the local café having a coffee at 10:30 am while listening to the people speaking Spanish.
- I’m grateful for the waitress who constantly works to make everyone’s experience delightful. She takes pride in the space and it shows.
- I’m grateful for the sun shining and warming my skin.
Gratitude: Tool and Practice
I recognize the “lets all be positive and love each other” vibe that comes from this topic can be a little over done.
However, gratitude is a tool. Like any great tool it is worthless unless used.
Gratitude is also a practice.
It retrains your brain to notice the feeling of appreciation for the simple things such as breath, body or your ability to walk down the street. Or the big things like your relationships, home, and planet earth.
Gratitude, if practiced consistently, redirects energy that might have been used by your mind to complain or go to negative space. With gratitude, you redirect the energy toward feeding the appreciation of being alive which immediately shifts your emotional state.
Recently, I started a gratitude journal. I have heard of this practice for years and have tried many times to do one but as usual my lack of consistency got the best of me and after a week or so I would completely forget about it. For the last two months, I committed to writing 3 things every night before bed.
I began to notice a difference in how I approach my days. Because I know I will write it before bed, I’m actively searching throughout the day to notice what is bringing me joy and appreciation.
This practice of journaling has shifted my seeing as I move through the days. I observe my experience, interactions and surrounding. I’m smiling throughout the day because of what I notice.
It’s not about comparing or thinking you “should” be grateful because other have it worse. Everyone is in their own experience and there is always something to be grateful for.
As long as you are on this planet you can be grateful for something.
Begin a gratitude journal
Before bed write down at least 3 things that you are grateful for from that day.
What touches your soul?
What can you notice that often gets overlooked?
It can be a smile from a stranger
The sun on your skin
Your body
It can be really anything.
If you are noticing your gratitude’s are all about material or the outside world, look deeper and try to connect with one thing that has nothing to do with the outside but all about your internal world.
Have fun with this and seeing in a whole new way!