When we stop and look at our lives, there’s so much to be grateful for even when it appears there is no light at the end of the tunnel. What’s also true is that gratitude comes and goes. But you know what? Gratitude is a choice. Only we get to decide whether we want to be grateful at any moment.
For some it comes easy and that is how it resides in them, and for others, it is hard to find, but the question still remains, “Are some people just born to be grateful?” What about if we don’t feel grateful at times?
I have found that the big question here is “How does one experience gratitude when life feels hard”? How do you take yourself from a stressed state to an attitude of gratefulness?
I can show you how and all it takes is 10 seconds!
Most would say, how do you do that? For most of us, we can’t. I am going to share a practice that I do to bring myself from anxiety to gratitude. Would you be interested in learning this? Well, here is how I do it…
What I have learned is it’s easier to lean into feeling grateful when we SLOW DOWN, for starters, I always start with taking a few deep cleansing breaths. See if you can identify the breath pattern that works best for you to bring you into a state of gratitude. For me, it’s what I call the 5-5-7 breath, I find if I inhale for 5, hold at the top for 5 and exhale for 7, (three times in a row), I am instantly in a calmer state which brings me right back to gratitude.
We cannot be in a state of gratitude if our body is in a stressed state, EVER. It will never work.
But, we beat ourselves up a great deal right? Does this sound familiar? “I’m a terrible mom”, “I ate terribly today”, ” I wish I could lose this weight”. Or how about comparing ourselves to others? Oh yeah, this is a BIG one! I like to call comparison, the “DEATH OF JOY”.
When we tell ourselves these things, we lose our joy and they become our truth right? This only takes us further away from gratitude. Feeling gratitude is a commitment, it is a way to being. How are you steering your attention?
I find there is another way to bring us back to gratitude is to ask yourself “What brings me joy”? What brings you joy? If you do the things that bring you joy, you are already in a state of happiness, which brings you right back to gratitude. Sounds simple right? You are in control of how you steer your attention at all times. Are you steering towards negativity or are you steering to being grateful? Give yourself permission to enjoy the here and now, by being present and in the moment.
And here is another one for you…
When I find myself steering toward negativity, I snap my fingers and tell myself to SNAP OUT OF IT!. It works every time! You have to choose in this moment what you want to be feeling instead, would you rather be feeling gratitude and peace? Or negativity and anxiety? Your choice! Did you know that you can actually trick your nervous system into believing it is grateful? All you need to do is change your state. Snap your fingers, give it a try!
Gratitude is something YOU allow, it is not something you are born with or get over time. YOU are free to decide. It is always here for you, whenever you want it!
I love this saying ” Gratitude is what we are without a story, the end of the war with the mind, is the end of the war”
Here is a list of 7 things below how I find my attitude of gratitude on a daily basis: I call it “MY MENTAL HYGIENE” and I find that writing it down makes it real. and then becomes our truth. AND better yet, it takes 10 seconds! Now that is what I call something we can find time for!
- Writing in a journal 5 things you are grateful for every day
- Write one thing you are proud of yourself for doing today
- Write down 5 things you like about yourself
- Hiking in nature
- Snapping my fingers out of my current state
- being in the present moment
- 5-5-7 breath
Please share below any tips that keep you in a state of gratitude!
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