When I saw this amazing sunset last night, I had an incredibly overwhelming feeling of joy. I immediately knew what I was feeling: it was gratitude.
About 15 years ago, during a very difficult time in my life, I started a Daily Gratitude Practice. I was trying to cope with a chronic health condition that was so difficult, it was what I thought about 24/7. It was so consuming that I just could not see the other side of my life; my thoughts were not balanced. They were making things worse for me, and I needed a break for the constant stream of negativity. That is when I learned about creating a gratitude practice. It was challenging at first because the enormity of my life situation was really tough; I had hard evidence to back up all the negative thoughts flowing through my head. I really didn’t have a ton of practice with seeing my entire life, just my life situation. There is a big difference between the two. Indeed, I had to dig, and digging is just what I did.
At first it was small, brief moments of relief. Gratitude practice does not involve striving or hoping that it will lead to something else. The practice is the end result; it creates space in the present moment awareness of your life. Since we do not physically live in any other moment in time….it opened me up to feel my life. It was not this kind of “Aha!” moment; it was more like my daily bread, my sustenance.
Gratitude practice is not just saying on a surface level,“I am lucky,” or “I shouldn’t complain, because I have all these things and others don’t.” These statements might be true, but they don’t bring the feeling of gratitude—at least not for me. When I think this way, I generally feel bad or that I am judging myself. I have found that “Should” statements never bring feelings of gratitude. In fact, they are kind of punitive. Don’t get me wrong, compassion for others is paramount, but I wonder if using these statements in this manner is actually a compassionate act; actually these statements are not compassionate to yourself.
I believe that part of the human experience involves suffering, and suffering is an individual experience. So comparing your suffering to someone else’s suffering is not useful and not possible. You can know that your life situation is more privileged than others, but you will never know someone else’s suffering.
Actually, having awareness of your own privilege can be a great practice in and of it self; as long as you can be aware of your privilege as well as have compassion for yourself and your suffering same time. That’s a lot! Are you still with me? Just circling back for a moment, if you authentically feel lucky, then go ahead-–feel it, live it, and say it to yourself over and over again. How lovely! It really is all about the feelings and not so much the words.
This practice means that I breathe in the feeling of gratitude. I let it fill my entire system, and I take a moment to think about something I can authentically feel grateful about in the present moment; something real, and unforced. Doing this at least once a day, I started cultivating the feeling of gratitude. Sometimes, I don’t really need to think of anything, I can just create space in my system for gratitude. After years of practice, the feeling of gratitude is now something I can tap into when I need it. Sometimes is just comes to me like a gift – like love.
By making this part of my routine, or a personal habit, I am able to do this when things are very difficult—mostly because I have practiced it over and over again. Sometimes my gratitude practice encompasses really big feelings like, “I am grateful that I am so deeply loved.” And sometimes it is really simple, like “I am still breathing right now.” The feeling of gratitude is very powerful!
Gratitude is the fertile soil in which our intentions grow.
About 15 years ago, during a very difficult time in my life, I started a Daily Gratitude Practice. I was trying to cope with a chronic health condition that was so difficult, it was what I thought about 24/7. It was so consuming that I just could not see the other side of my life; my thoughts were not balanced. They were making things worse for me, and I needed a break for the constant stream of negativity. That is when I learned about creating a gratitude practice. It was challenging at first because the enormity of my life situation was really tough; I had hard evidence to back up all the negative thoughts flowing through my head. I really didn’t have a ton of practice with seeing my entire life, just my life situation. There is a big difference between the two. Indeed, I had to dig, and digging is just what I did.
At first it was small, brief moments of relief. Gratitude practice does not involve striving or hoping that it will lead to something else. The practice is the end result; it creates space in the present moment awareness of your life. Since we do not physically live in any other moment in time….it opened me up to feel my life. It was not this kind of “Aha!” moment; it was more like my daily bread, my sustenance.
Gratitude practice is not just saying on a surface level,“I am lucky,” or “I shouldn’t complain, because I have all these things and others don’t.” These statements might be true, but they don’t bring the feeling of gratitude—at least not for me. When I think this way, I generally feel bad or that I am judging myself. I have found that “Should” statements never bring feelings of gratitude. In fact, they are kind of punitive. Don’t get me wrong, compassion for others is paramount, but I wonder if using these statements in this manner is actually a compassionate act; actually these statements are not compassionate to yourself.
I believe that part of the human experience involves suffering, and suffering is an individual experience. So comparing your suffering to someone else’s suffering is not useful and not possible. You can know that your life situation is more privileged than others, but you will never know someone else’s suffering.
Actually, having awareness of your own privilege can be a great practice in and of it self; as long as you can be aware of your privilege as well as have compassion for yourself and your suffering same time. That’s a lot! Are you still with me? Just circling back for a moment, if you authentically feel lucky, then go ahead-–feel it, live it, and say it to yourself over and over again. How lovely! It really is all about the feelings and not so much the words.
This practice means that I breathe in the feeling of gratitude. I let it fill my entire system, and I take a moment to think about something I can authentically feel grateful about in the present moment; something real, and unforced. Doing this at least once a day, I started cultivating the feeling of gratitude. Sometimes, I don’t really need to think of anything, I can just create space in my system for gratitude. After years of practice, the feeling of gratitude is now something I can tap into when I need it. Sometimes is just comes to me like a gift – like love.
By making this part of my routine, or a personal habit, I am able to do this when things are very difficult—mostly because I have practiced it over and over again. Sometimes my gratitude practice encompasses really big feelings like, “I am grateful that I am so deeply loved.” And sometimes it is really simple, like “I am still breathing right now.” The feeling of gratitude is very powerful!
Gratitude is the fertile soil in which our intentions grow.