Until last year, gratitude seemed like a far-off abstract concept to me. It seemed a bit willy nilly in the sense that everyone was talking about an attitude of gratitude, and well being the all-the-feels Pisces girl that I am, I wasn’t sure that 100% gratitude 100% of the time fit into my emotional timetable. But, wrong I was. I’ve sense adopted the mantra, “Gratitude is heaven itself”. Because, well, it is and it’s not willy nilly- gratitude changed my life. I think it takes significant self-work to flow forward, come what may, and just be thankful for it. Being thankful for the hues of every experience, acknowledging that there is no good or bad, there just is, and this space of “just is” the gateway to present happiness, and the stairway to heaven (cue Led Zeppelin).
I didn’t know it at the time, but gratitude is what was missing from my journey. You see, if we change the way we look at things, we become miracle makers. When I pause to reflect, in a year’s time I grappled with mindfulness, the temporary-ness of everything and made peace with it, put self-care first, flexed my intuition muscle as a guiding light, sorted through the heavy stuff and somehow wound up on the flipside of it all with an outlook of gratitude. I call this the hues of experience, and gratitude is always a choice available to us through our valleys and mountains of experience. It is going through things that take grit and being thankful. It is going through things that make you ugly belly laugh and being thankful just the same.
So, how can we manifest our gratitude?
I recently became intrigued by the power of a solid morning routine, and creating one for myself that felt authentic to me-- keeps me grounded, connected, and souped up with gratitude to start my day. I had been hearing (podcast junkie) about a “Gratitude Journal” for a while before I actually started to incorporate one into my own morning routine.
Gratitude Journal
When you wake up first thing in the morning, write down 3-5 things you are thankful for. It could be as simple as “I’m thankful for my cozy bed”, for example. Don’t get bogged down in how lovely they should sound, that is not what the practice is about! Next, write down 3-5 people you want to pray for that day. This <5 minute devotional practice is a g a m e c h a n g e r, and honestly a mindset changer, my friends. In the midst of even the most chaotic hair-pulling day, and let’s be real- here in NYC it’s hard to escape them, you are able to see that this too will pass. Most importantly, on those gritty days, your journal serves as a reminder that there are things you are thankful for, because you wrote it down and there is power in that.
Happy Gratitude Journaling!
Xx, Sab
I didn’t know it at the time, but gratitude is what was missing from my journey. You see, if we change the way we look at things, we become miracle makers. When I pause to reflect, in a year’s time I grappled with mindfulness, the temporary-ness of everything and made peace with it, put self-care first, flexed my intuition muscle as a guiding light, sorted through the heavy stuff and somehow wound up on the flipside of it all with an outlook of gratitude. I call this the hues of experience, and gratitude is always a choice available to us through our valleys and mountains of experience. It is going through things that take grit and being thankful. It is going through things that make you ugly belly laugh and being thankful just the same.
So, how can we manifest our gratitude?
I recently became intrigued by the power of a solid morning routine, and creating one for myself that felt authentic to me-- keeps me grounded, connected, and souped up with gratitude to start my day. I had been hearing (podcast junkie) about a “Gratitude Journal” for a while before I actually started to incorporate one into my own morning routine.
Gratitude Journal
When you wake up first thing in the morning, write down 3-5 things you are thankful for. It could be as simple as “I’m thankful for my cozy bed”, for example. Don’t get bogged down in how lovely they should sound, that is not what the practice is about! Next, write down 3-5 people you want to pray for that day. This <5 minute devotional practice is a g a m e c h a n g e r, and honestly a mindset changer, my friends. In the midst of even the most chaotic hair-pulling day, and let’s be real- here in NYC it’s hard to escape them, you are able to see that this too will pass. Most importantly, on those gritty days, your journal serves as a reminder that there are things you are thankful for, because you wrote it down and there is power in that.
Happy Gratitude Journaling!
Xx, Sab
1 Comment