A couple of weeks ago we focused on counting our blessings and taking the time to be grateful - yes 'grateful' when something good happens, when you need an emotional boost or when something doesn't go the way 'you planned it'. Seeing all of our experiences as opportunities to heal and to grow spiritually puts us in a loving state and a constant mind-set of gratitude.
This week we would like to offer you additional 'food for thought' to support you in spending more time being grateful for all your life experiences.
As a reminder here are the suggestions we made a few weeks ago.
1) Make gratitude a consistent focus as often as you can. Instead of allowing your outer circumstances and experiences to determine your mind-set, begin reciting positive statements like this to yourself: "I choose to be grateful for __________." (Choose anything and everything you can think of to be grateful for.) As you recite this statement, allow yourself to actually FEEL grateful. With practice this exercise can transform negative emotions and turn your whole attitude around. Allow it all to come from your heart not your head.
This week we would like to offer you additional 'food for thought' to support you in spending more time being grateful for all your life experiences.
As a reminder here are the suggestions we made a few weeks ago.
1) Make gratitude a consistent focus as often as you can. Instead of allowing your outer circumstances and experiences to determine your mind-set, begin reciting positive statements like this to yourself: "I choose to be grateful for __________." (Choose anything and everything you can think of to be grateful for.) As you recite this statement, allow yourself to actually FEEL grateful. With practice this exercise can transform negative emotions and turn your whole attitude around. Allow it all to come from your heart not your head.
2) Find something to be grateful for in every experience. This exercise can often be more challenging, especially when you experience difficult situations. However, remember that gratitude is a CHOICE. Just like there is usually a downside to each situation, there is also a positive side. Which one you focus on is up to you. When something happens, either good or bad, pause for a moment and choose how you want to feel about it. The more you choose gratitude, the better your life circumstances will be - simply because you won't be obsessing over the negatives anymore. Remember you can choose to hold the hand of your Higher Self/Spirit or your ego. It truly is your decision and your choice how you will respond. Empower yourself today to live a more grateful, joyful and loving life.
How did you do with these suggestions? Did you start out strong and then stop? Did you start each day then missed a day and then felt 'oh what the heck' 'why bother'. Whenever we begin a new practice we always like to do things in one fell swoop and we want things to happen instantly. We live in a time where we want instant everything - think about it - we want instant abs, we eat instant mashed potatoes, we can have instant pudding. We can't even wait for our food to be cooked slowly, let alone be patient with ourselves and allow ourselves to make mistakes and grow from them and stay on the path. Many of us tend to give up to easily and we forget that we are who we are from years and years of programming and conditioning and 'instant healing' is not realistic. Believing we can dump it all in one fell swoop is the ego playing tricks with us and leading us to believe that if we can't let it all go and heal then there must be something wrong with us. Well, there isn't. We are perfect and each experience we have is another opportunity to choose to heal or to keep the old tapes going. The more we spend time being grateful the more we heal and remove the old, negative beliefs and thought patterns we have been conditioned to think for so very long.
Be patient and kind to yourself and be grateful to 'you'. It takes time and it takes practice and patience. So, when you get discouraged when you are not feeling an immediate shift please know that healing is occurring at levels you can't even fathom. Know that every minute and even every second that you spend connecting with your Higher Self and being in a state of gratitude is making a significant difference in your life.
A Day of Gratitude
Simply focus on being in gratitude for one day. Can you commit to adopting a grateful attitude no matter what happens during the course of one single day? You will be surprised how easy it is to do something for one day.
How about trying to create 'A Day of Gratitude'? Here is one suggestion to get you started.
First, select an object that you will have with you on your 'day of gratitude' It can be anything that is meaningful to you - a picture, a hat, a piece of jewelry or anything else that would serve as a trigger for you to shift into gratitude mode.
Start your 'day of gratitude' by spending a few minutes holding your 'trigger' object. As you are doing this, take a couple of deep breadths and bring up the wonderful feeling of gratitude. Feel it in your heart - feel and see your heart getting bigger and bigger. When you feel full of gratitude state your intention. It can be something like this:
"Today I choose to feel grateful for every experience I have. I will see the positive aspects of all my experiences today - all that brings me joy and all that brings me frustration. I will be grateful to all who choose to participate in my day today knowing that I have invited them to participate with me in my healing process. I will make a conscious effort to stay rooted in the present moment, and be aware of my tendency to slip from this grateful focus. I choose to bring my thoughts and emotions back on track immediately. This (name your object) will serve as a powerful reminder that I can choose to be grateful about anything and everything today and I will exercise this freedom of choice during my 'day of gratitude'.
Put on your trigger object, and then go about your day.
We are not saying to use this object as your 'lucky charm'. That is not the intent. It is merely to serve as a reminder/trigger of your desire to live this day in total gratitude. Know that your patience and focus will be tested repeatedly throughout the day. Know it for what it is and know that the more opportunities you are given to choose and strengthen your focus towards gratitude the better you will feel at the end of the day and the better you will become at being in a state of gratitude.
Now try it again the following day. Keep doing this exercise one day at a time, over and over again. Before long you will find that you don't have to work so hard at staying focused on gratitude, and it starts becoming more natural and a way of life.
Nancy & PJ
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