Gratitude Turns What We Have Into Enough – Annonomyous

I talk about GRATITUDE a lot!   

I believe gratitude is the antidote for most ALL ailments and is the gateway to joy and happiness. 

However, when I teach about gratitude, the concept can be surprisingly unsettling for some.  Why?  Well, because many can readily make a list of things and people and experiences that they are grateful for, but when I ask how does that feel? How does gratitude impact your life? Where do you feel gratitude in your body?  They often go blank.   

Sometimes it’s easier to “think” our feeling states than it is to “feel” them.   

But how rewarding is it to “think” about love. It’s way more satisfying to deeply feel the good stuff vs. label or intellectualize it.  I mean really, what good is the feeling of love if you can’t let it in?   Same goes for gratitude.   

I share with people how research has shown us that our bodies are literally more vibrant, more alive and increasingly able to feel more when we are in a frequency of gratitude.   

When we are in a state of gratitude our bodies feel it.  Gratitude states increase blood flow, which means we are receiving and sending all the good vitamins, minerals and nutrients to the right places. Additionally gratitude states can help normalize our metabolism, hormones and endocrine system.   Our minds are impacted as well.   When we look for what’s working (aka the practice of gratitude) our Reticular Activating System gets on board and finds more of what is flowing positively in our lives and we build upon those recognitions.   As this happens resilience increases and we are able to handle stress and inconvenience with greater ease.   You see, with gratitude the world gets better and better.   

Gratitude is an aspired state.   

Naturally it’s startling to recognize that a feel good emotion is inaccessible.  If you recognize you understand gratitude more than you feel it, don’t panic, there’s good news.   

There are many practices and tools to begin your journey into gratefulness.   

Here are a few ideas to get you started. 

1)  Daily: write down 3-5 things that you are grateful for.   Include why you are grateful for them and then sit still and close your eyes and pay attention to how you feel in your body when you think about these special things.   Allow the feeling to penetrate your body.   Don’t fret if you don’t feel it for a while.   Just show up and breathe with curiosity and over time you will begin to increase your recognition of how your own body experiences gratitude.     

2)  Actively compliment others.   As you build a practice of identifying and speaking to what brings you joy and lights you up in others you will begin to understand your own appreciation.  (Note: appreciation is stepping-stone away on the gratitude spectrum and everyone loves a compliment!) 

3)  Be mindful of what is around you. Take a few intentional moments each day to embrace what is around you and exactly how you are feeling. What is surrounding you that you can be grateful for? This can be as small as the breeze flowing by you on a warm day or as big as the people you have in your life.

"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance."

Hannah Zackney