Vibrations of Joy: Witnessing Gratitude’s Life-Altering Force – For those of you who are not regular readers of this wonderful magazine, I am a longtime psychotherapist and mindset coach. Recently, I was dumbfoundedly reminded about how incredibly powerful gratitude is for instantly changing a person’s perspective from darkness and gloom to brightness and joy.
A Client’s Struggle and the Role of Gratitude
I was working with a new client, a woman in her 60s who had come to me seeking help for depression. It was our very first session. She shared how she has been estranged from her 2 daughters for over 15 years. Her now adult daughters have been living with her ex-husband (who has custody), and apparently, the daughters have not wanted contact with her. She sought my help for symptoms of depression and anxiety.
I explained that during upcoming sessions, we will explore the situation with her daughters in depth. But for this current session, I wanted to focus on right now. (My therapeutic goal was to lift her out of a place of being stuck with a very narrow, limited perspective, resulting in a skewed sense of reality.)
I started by asking her to describe her present-day life. I asked her what activities she did besides her work and tried to get a sense of what the quality of her daily life was like.
She works at a job that, after 40 years, that is not fulfilling for her anymore. She lives alone. When I asked her what hobbies she had, she couldn’t think of anything other than “I like to sew”. She has some friends but hasn’t been in touch with them for many months. That, and being estranged from her daughters seemed to her to be the sum total of her life.
Gratitude’s Impact on Perspective and Energy
I asked her what she was grateful for. She looked at me with a blank stare and a confused look as if she were thinking: Why would you ask me that, as it is obvious that I DON’T HAVE anything to be grateful for. Finally, as if grasping for something out of the air to answer my question, she said, “Well, I guess I could be grateful for my house.”. “Great,” I said. “Yes. Absolutely! You own your own house, which is a real point of luxury we can easily overlook.”
I asked her what she liked about the house… and she was able to come up with just 2 things. However, with further probing, she was able to list over 15 things. “What else are you grateful for?” I asked. She said she was grateful that she has a job that she gets to retire from in just 3 months. “WOW,” I remarked… ”That’s a huge thing you have to be grateful for!” She smiled for the first time in the session and then began to state a few more things for which she was grateful. Suddenly, there started to be some excitement in her face and some new energy in her that hadn’t been present before. After a few more minutes, when she couldn’t think of any more things to be grateful for…you could tell by her face she was now actively wanting to think of more.
I asked her if she felt grateful for having running water. “OH my gosh, yes, absolutely!” she said immediately …and “How about electricity?” I asked. Then she really took off and began naming all the essential things she uses that require electricity. From that point, she didn’t need much more prompting as things of gratitude just started coming into her mind easily. As she spoke, she had the wondering look of a child as she named one after another..and another.. and another.
The person who was sitting in front of me now had a completely different energy than the person I first met. She sat up straighter. She started to use her arms and hands more when she talked. Her face now showed a variety of expressions instead of just one sullen look. Her eyes were open wider. Her voice now had inflection and a variety of pitches.
We continued this process a little further, and then I spent the remainder of the session having her brainstorm a few activities and hobbies she might want to explore within the next month. We also discussed her contacting 1 of her local friends she had lost touch with and just visiting over the phone for a while or perhaps (if she felt comfortable) setting up a lunch date.
I also suggested she do some writing during the upcoming week about what she would like for this new chapter of her life, having the freedom of retirement. And lastly, I reminded her that there is WAY more to life than just sewing or the current behavior of her daughters. She has the whole world at her fingertips to explore!
With tears of happiness in her eyes and a huge smile, she thanked me for showing her “an entirely new reality”. “YOU are amazing,” she said. To which I replied…” IT is LIFE that is amazing. And it’s right here waiting for you.”
The Power of Gratitude to Transform Lives
I’m writing about this experience because I feel it is such an amazing and perfect example of the POWER of gratitude. It is no wonder that physics has proven that when we move into a state of gratitude, our vibrational frequency intensifies and increases throughout our entire body. The faster the frequency, the more we move up closer to the vibrational states of love and bliss. I witnessed this happening right in front of me during this session!
I am sharing this for anyone who might be doubtful about the power of gratitude. This was/is visual proof of its overwhelming force. I hope you use this information to help lift your emotional state into a wonderful place of being. It can truly change your life.
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