“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Since we are just past the Thanksgiving holiday much focus has been on gratitude. Gratitude and appreciation are among the highest vibrations and delightful to practice all year long. Placing your focus on what you are grateful for is a wonderful tool to shift your energy when you notice you’re feeling out of sorts. It’s more than that, though.

Making a regular practice of gratitude becomes a habit that can make a permanent shift in perspective.

You’ll find that you begin to attract more things to be grateful for! Miracles happen when we are in the higher flow. You’ll be attractive to all the things you want to create in your life. And even better, express your gratitude to others in your life that have made your life better in some way.

Here’s a practice to keep the gratitude flowing and your energy high.

For the rest of 2018, take just 3 minutes every day to write down what you are grateful for.  Go back as far as you can.

For example, I’m grateful that I was born into a loving family that greeted my arrival with smiles and excitement! I’m grateful for the encouragement and support I got from my parents growing up. I’m grateful my sister and I have always been, and still are, close and enjoy each others company. I’m grateful for the sound of my granddaughter’s loving voice as she calls me “Grammy.” I’m grateful for my arms and hands that allow me to hug the people I love, pet the soft fur of cats and do the things I enjoy doing. I’m grateful for clean air to breathe and pure water to drink. I’m grateful for my gift of sight so I can see beautiful things and appreciate the birds and wildlife in my yard. I love that I can delight in the taste of good food and smell the aroma of coffee, the fragrance of flowers and fresh air.

You get the idea. Once you get started you get on a roll!

Now, here’s something you may not have thought of. I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet who hasn’t experienced moments of pain, hardship, sadness, confusion, loss, disease, anxiety or despair. Can you be thankful for those times and people who brought them? These are not the things we think of immediately when expressing gratitude.

But if you believe, as I do, that everything—absolutely everything— is FOR you in some way, then you can be grateful for the hard times and annoying people as well. What have you learned from these experiences? How have you grown?

Here’s an example to help you reflect on your own experiences:

• I thank the moments of confusion for they have led me to find sources of inner clarity and stillness.
• I thank the anxiety that I have felt when I have feared not knowing what comes next, as this has moved me to become comfortable with not knowing, to appreciate the beauty in the apparent “void” and to be curious about the surprises that the future may bring.
• I thank the times I have responded to people or situations badly because they have shown me my shadow side so that I can bring it into the light and transform it.
• I thank the people who have treated me badly because they have held up a mirror for me to see what I need to change within myself and given me the opportunity to practice forgiveness.
• I thank the moments when my emotions have deeply uprooted me; those many moments when I have judged myself, when I have not accepted who and what I am, because they have helped me accept that these emotions are to be embraced until they transform into new levels of compassion, kindness and love.
• I thank the disappointments I have experienced because they have taught me to trust that something better than what I expected is often just around the corner.
• I thank the often unwelcome changes and challenges in my life because they have taken me outside of my comfort zone and shown me what I am really capable of, exploring new areas that turn out to be even better than I could have imagined.

“With everything that has happened to you, you can feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”       ~Wayne Dyer

Acknowledging the challenging times, responses that were not our highest and emotions that were uncomfortable and unwanted allows us to embrace our humanity and connect to our divinity. In being grateful for the gifts hidden within them, we can begin to heal, forgive and practice being kind and loving to ourselves and others. We grow. And eventually we won’t need these challenges in our lives.

I’d love to hear your comments on the effect this process had on your life!