The past couple weeks has been pretty tough for me; lots of transformations. Anyway, through this time of change there has been one thing which has been unwavering...my gratitude. What I found was when times get hard, once your practice gratitude, things seem to be no so bad and easier to handle. Wow! What an amazing discovery! How can you practice gratitude? Here's a couple little things I do:
- Find the good in the bad. When you're going through a hard time, find the good in it. These tough times are here for a reason and the universe wants you to see the lesson in it. It's not an easy task but for some reason when I look for the good it makes things seem easier to handle.
- Crying is gratitude to yourself. Yes it is. Crying is a fantastic release of the things you've bottled up inside. Crying is showing the humanism in life. Allow yourself the time to cry and show your body gratitude.
- Gratitude in girlfriends! As I've gotten older I've notice how grateful I am to have such awesome women in my life. When I was younger, I never had girlfriends. I worked around men and was more comfortable with them. Men are good but there is something about having a girlfriend that helps tough time tolerable. I value them so much.
- Journal the things you are grateful about. It doesn't have to be paragraphs. Simple, one word responses. I have a gratitude book I started two weeks ago. Here's a couple things I wrote and am grateful for: my husband, my daughter, bravery, rainy days, well written assignments, daily blessings all around us, wine...
- Say your gratitude out loud! I talk to my guardian angel all the time and I figured if I say the things I'm grateful for, it just puts more positivity into the universe. After all we all need some happiness in the world.
Our society has taught us to look at the negatives which happen to us. Why? All it does is cause us heartache, pain, sadness. Who wants to live like that! I sure as hell don't want to. I want to be happy, share my gratitude to all, and hopefully they will see how happy they are too.
On the website unstuck.com, they wrote about how to cultivate gratitude. Here's what they said:
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Notice your day-to-day world from a point of gratitude and be amazed at all the goodness we take for granted. The video "A Good Day" from TEDxSF can get you inthe right frame of mind.
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Keep a gratitude journal. All it requires is noting one or more things you are grateful for on a daily basis. No fancy notebook, no computer program required.
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If you identify something or someone with a negative trait (the cold conference room), switch it in your mind to a positive trait (the conference room witha great view).
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Gratitude requires humility, which the dictionary defines as "modest and respectful." Explore where it fits in your life. The article "Humility: A Quiet, Underappreciated Strength" is a good start.
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Give at least one compliment daily. It can be to a person or it can be asking someone to share your appreciation of something else ("I love how quiet it is in the morning, don’t you?").
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When you find yourself in a bad situation ask: What can I learn? When I look back on this, without emotion, what will I be grateful for?
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Vow to not complain, criticize, or gossip for 10 days. If you slip, rally your willpower and keep going. Notice the amount of energy you were spending on negative thoughts and actions.
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Sound genuinely happy to hear from the people who call you on the phone. Whether the caller responds with surprise or delight, he’ll know you value speaking with him.
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Become involved in a cause that is important to you. Donate money or time or talent. By joining in, you’ll gain greater appreciation for the organization, and it will appreciate you more, too.(Source: http://www.unstuck.com/gratitude.html)
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