3 simple ways to kickstart you Gratituding journey
Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. – Karl Barth
The art of expressing gratitude has had more focus in current times due to the fact that it not only improves your spiritual and human relations but also improves your sleep, immune system and many other health benefits. I have been writing a lot about gratitude and how I experience things to be grateful for. A recent conversation with a friend made me think how we tend to overcomplicate the very simple ritual. Yes most of us find it extremely easy to be grateful when we receive or experience something to our benefit but what if there aren’t many great things happening to you or you feel that you can’t catch a break on all the unfortunate things happening?
Practicing gratitude isn’t a trait we are born with it is a habit like all others that we have to consciously cultivate and the more you practice the easier it becomes. If you have tried to keep a consistent gratitude ritual but can’t seem to keep it up or you just don’t know how to get started on making this a habit then read on. In today’s newsletter I will like to share some very simple ways of kickstarting this practice and turning it into a healthy habit.
Appreciate the present moment
We all have so many things we want and are working towards but what we forget is that what we have and can do anything about is the present moment, - today, right now. No one is guaranteed tomorrow and yesterday’s experiences are gone and can’t be changed but if you get the realisation that all I have is this very moment you get to make it what you want and experience it to the fullest. There are many passing moments in a day and without making this first bit too complicated or overly spiritual here is an example. At the backend of last week my sister and I discovered an opportunity and we came to talk about the fact that had we discovered this during the pandemic it would have been brilliant but as I write this today, I cannot go back in time to get this information and I can’t stress about how long it is going to take to get to where we could have been by now. All I can do is be grateful that I have even discovered this now and do my best today in working towards the desired outcome. For now I am healthy, whole and alive and in a place where I can take action and that is enough.
2. Consciously look for things to be grateful for
As previously mentioned gratituding is a habit we have to consciously cultivate and that means we intentionally look for things to be grateful for each day and every moment if possible. If you are thinking this might be a challenge I want to assure you that it is not. Have you ever wanted something so bad that you saw reminders of it everywhere and thought it was confirmation from God/Universe? Well yes and no, there is a system in our makeup called the reticular activating system which starts above our spinal cord and it's about two inches long, and where almost all our senses come in. This system helps us to perceive more of the thing we focus on and so it also kicks in when we consciously look for things to be grateful for. A while ago when I went for my morning walk, which is one of the meditative rituals for me, on this day I felt I needed the covering of love to get through the day. Yes love from myself and from nature, I found a heart shaped object on the floor that made me smile and say Thank You - love is indeed all around me. Then on my way back this beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky, I stopped, took in the beauty of it and smiled again to myself. I was in a joyful state by this time but that wasn’t the end, when I got to my apartment block and was about to open the main door, I couldn’t believe my eyes there in front of me was a heart etched into the cover of the manhole that had been there all this time and I had never noticed. I went out anticipating a blanket of love from the universe and I more than had experiences of that.
3. Relate your experiences with another persons
It’s easy to forget how privileged and blessed we are because the things we have we’ve come to expect as our right to have them and rightfully so. However another aspect of cultivating a grateful heart is relating our experiences with others. Last week I explored the natural law of Relativity in Monday’s newsletter and this law states nothing is good or bad, big or small, cold or hot, until we relate it to something. In the light of this when we are having difficulty expressing gratitude let’s remember that there will always be somebody who’s worse off than us just as we are also in a bad place with relation to someone else. Let’s say it’s raining and you are stuck in traffic, frustrated at the weather and the fact that you will have to walk that short distance from the carpark to your office. Then think about the colleague who’s dependent on public transport and is stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus in the rain and has about a 5 minute walk to the office. Now how big is your problem in comparison to your colleagues? Think about it.
There are more ways to get into the habit of expressing gratitude and so hopefully these three will help in getting the ball rolling. Gratituding, really isn’t that complicated or should only be expressed when we get a breakthrough but it’s all about our perspective and where to focus our energy. When I have had plateaus in my practice these are some of the things that have brought me back on track and I hope will help you in building your own ritual.
Affirmation: I am thankful for the small everyday miracles that I experience each day.