Celebrate with Gratitude
‘Tis the season to feel wrung out? Over-partied? Ready to crash? Instead of experiencing the lingering joy the post-Holidays are supposed to bring, this is what many of us sense. To alleviate these feelings now and throughout the New Year a better emotion to focus on expressing is gratitude, even if it may seem counter-intuitive.
During the quiet and busy times, we can all squeeze in a moment to say thank you to no one in particular. Notice the little things. The traffic light that turns green just before you step on the brakes. When you go in search of something in a book and immediately open to it. The radio station that plays your favorite song. All of these should be recognized as gifts. When you make the shift from thinking of such incidents, if you acknowledge them at all, as gifts, your days are filled with more pleasure and you are aware that you’re taken care of by something more divine.
Even when you’re exhausted, you often sense that you just don’t have the energy to go to work. Since you can’t exactly call in tired, while at work try exercising your gratitude. For caregivers and healers, we can be grateful for being of service and doing something, however minor, to make an impact on someone’s life. Creative professionals can take pleasure in the process of creation as well as being thankful for the opportunity to express yourself. Business people of all stripes can be grateful for co-workers who make you smile, the meeting that gets rescheduled and the client who says thank you. Bringing gratitude into work helps your workday seem less stressful, be more rewarding and in fact can help to energize you.
In all likelihood, you celebrated a great deal over the last several weeks. Despite all the card writing and gift exchanging, there are invariably still plenty of things and people that we take for granted, particularly our family. Yes, you probably had your fill of time with them, but that attitude of satiation makes it a perfect place to start. Acknowledge your in-laws for helping to create the person you love. Appreciate just how much joy children bring into the world, even when they’re yours and they’re driving you crazy. We all have at least one bothersome relative. You can give thanks for them for providing you with a mirror reflecting back those same unpleasant traits in yourself, which helps you to name those things you want to change about yourself. Feeling and expressing gratitude for our families helps you to be filled with compassion and know that we are all connected.
Being grateful during hard times isn’t likely the first thing that comes to mind. This is truly spiritual work. The symptoms of stress are also a great teacher. They actually reveal where we need more gratitude. Physical pain is a wake-up call to slow down, listen to your body and express thankfulness for it by giving it what it needs. Insomnia and restlessness instruct us to heed the inner voice of wisdom we all possess and to be grateful for its perpetual truth. Tears, even if they seem to be a never-ending river, are a lesson in release. By letting them flow instead of holding them back, you’re honoring your emotional need to rid yourself of excess energy and aid you in moving beyond the emotion. It’s certainly not easy in the face of grief, anger or fear to be filled with appreciation, but doing so shines a light on the blessing that will inevitably come out of the darkness. More importantly, it also floods you with faith.
One of my favorite techniques to help ingrain the attitude of gratitude into consciousness is to count all the blessings and gifts received during the course of the day while lying in bed just before falling asleep each night. Try to recall and appreciate everything. I always note all the safe travel, my good health, the abundance of food and the love, guidance and healing I’ve been fortunate to receive. Then I move onto anything unique to that day. Of course there’s no way to list absolutely everything. That’s part of the point, though. As you recount all these things you’ll find your body and emotions softening and perhaps even moved to tears. What a beautiful way to end the day and fall asleep!
The expression of gratitude throughout all aspects of your life is a golden doorway. It helps the ordinary to become sacred. It also puts you into the flow of life to get more joy, peace, hope, love, inspiration and insights. Start by noticing the small things and you’ll be on your way.
