An Attitude of Gratitude

Greetings friends!  Once again I am presenting you with a blog post from years past.  It’s an oldie but a goodie!  I think it’s apropos, given all of the zaniness of my life in this past 10 days! Sometimes, you just gotta sit back and remember your own advice! 😉

Gratefully Yours,

 

 

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First posted on November 9, 2010 as “Thankfully Pink, Part 1”

I’ve been in a rut the last few weeks. I’ve not been feeling especially thankful or “full of gratitude.” I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the darker and colder days that fuel my chilly mental/emotional mood, maybe it’s the (sometimes) overwhelm from starting and operating  a successful business that pulls me down, maybe it’s because I’m a spoiled American who can’t see the abundance in front of her own face. There are days when I think “what’s my problem? Why can’t I get back to my ‘attitude of gratitude’?” So, today, I decided the antidote to this whiny, gloomy perspective is to sit down and take stock of all that I am thankful for—to write it down, put it out there to the universe, have it be known. I won’t bore you with the details of MY life, what I am grateful for, or what is included on my ticker tape. We all have our own lists and, by and large, my guess is that they’re very similar in theme and feel. What I found more provocative was to consider this:

What does being thankful do for me? How does it serve me to work on inhabiting a space of gratitude? Here’s how I answer it. Being grateful helps me to…

1. Shift my perspective. I can sit around and wallow in doubt, uncertainty, and an entire bag of my child’s left-overs from trick or treating, or I can CHOOSE to recognize that which I am, that which I do, and that which I have. Be. Do. Have. When I consider who I am being each day, all that I’m doing each day, and all that I have each day, I can’t help but smile. Big.
2. Refresh my soul. It’s like taking a shower…if you do it only once in a while, you’re gonna stink, alienate people, and itch all over. If you do it every day, you’ll find your soul cleansed, your mind clear, and your physical being feeling  great, because you shine from the inside out.
3. Stay in the Pink. Being thankful allows me greater access to the magnificence that is ME, at my core, and gives me the added boost I need to step into my power each and every day. Instead of focusing on the darkness, I focus on the light. And baby, that light is shining so bright I can barely see! Instead of dwelling on the negative, being thankful allows me to reinforce the sparkle, the glitter, and the goodness of all that surrounds me.
4. Love others more fully by loving myself. Clichéd? Perhaps. True? Absolutely. What I know is this: when I choose to feel thankful for all that “is” in my life, I am much better at pushing away those demons that represent jealousy, anger, fear, doubt, and loathing.  The space that is then available is open to acceptance, love, joy, excitement, energy, and juicy-delicious goodness. I LOVE that! When I can get to that space, my heart simply opens up. No other way to really say it.
5. Get a grip. A good friend of my sister’s (and therefore mine) has a saying she touts whenever someone she knows and/or associates with starts whining about their life and circumstances. She uses her best sing-song voice, and it goes like this: FIRST WORLD PROBLEM! For example, “I can’t believe I have to buy Christmas presents for my brother AND his new girlfriend (and her three kids) who will be visiting at Christmas time this year! Don’t people know that it’s a tough economy out there right now??? ” (Get ready–are you using your best Julie Andrews voice?): FIRST WORLD PROBLEM! I realize that our common challenges are not really problems at all, and that I have a whole heapin’ ton for which I can be thankful.

Being grateful is one of the most impactful ways of honoring my humanity and myself, warts and all.

Thank you!