The Gift of Gratitude
The multiplicative & reframing effect of flexing your mindset muscle
Do you ever have a period of life where you just feel the hits keep coming?
I had a week like that this past week —not even really terrible stuff, but just enough little challenges that they added up to make life harder than it seemed like it should be — a silly injury that made it painful to get around and train myself and my clients, followed by a sinus infection that got worse for a week before I got treatment and resulted in needing some time off and needing help and coverage from colleagues to cover clients in my absence. Just kinda a crummy week and I was feeling kinda sorry for myself like one does when they are all self-focused and not feeling well UNTIL I took a pause to remember I had some people to thank for all their help from the week.
And here’s the thing — once I started naming the people I was grateful for and the help and support I’d been lucky enough to receive over the course of of the week — it completely reframed my mindset and made me see so much good.
So here is a little growth mindset + gratitude practice in action for you — I encourage you to think of your own week as you read — what were some minor to major frustrations you experienced, and is there a way to apply a gratitude practice to reframe any of them?
The goal here is not to pollyanna-style ignore the problems in your life or practice toxic positivity; it IS however to get outside of your own head and acknowledge the incredible power of finding the big or small things you already have that are good in your life and watch the power of how that impacts your mindset and attitude.
Example 1: Feeling Supported at Work
I felt pretty badly about needing to stay home last week when I had a fever, and to miss some days this week due to illness and travel. I was around less for floor coverage at the gym, and had to cancel, or reschedule clients to later dates or with other trainers. Just felt like I wasn’t pulling my weight and was letting people down. But what happened when I communicated my needs? My colleagues gracefully covered my absence, including picking up classes so I could rest, and training a few clients that I couldn’t get to this week! And my clients were flexible, understanding, and supportive of my resting to recover while they kept showing up on their own or with other coaches for the week! I am feeling so grateful for my team and the support I experience at work, along with my incredible clients!
Example 2: A Supportive Partner at Home
Last weekend, when I was feeling my worst and it was a holiday weekend with Monday off for July 4th, Justin dropped all plans to stay home with me, cook for me, and generally just hang out together and make me feel safe and loved. I’m so grateful for a partner who embodied with his actions “in sickness and in health” and prioritized me over wanting to go out and have fun with friends or family. I would have been fine with him going, as I was just resting anyway, but it really meant a lot to me to have him stay behind and take care of me that way. Feeling grateful for support at home! 💗 Also, let’s be honest, I would have been too scared to watch Stranger Things Season 4 by myself. 🤣
Example 3: The Kindness of Strangers
I wanted to say thank you to my team for going above to pull more than their weight in my absence so I ordered coffee for the team! Sadly, however, when I went to pick it up, my heart sank as I realized I had mobile ordered to the wrong location. 😩
But, before I’d even realized what was happening, a kind, anonymous starbucks employee had re-entered the coffee orders, remade them incredibly efficiently, and didn’t even re-charge me for them. 🤯
Then, I went to the pharmacy and store to get my medicine/prescriptions for my sinus infection and buy some snacks for my travel and the pharmacists were quick, efficient and helpful. And when I had an unexpected price situation at the register, the employee gave me the lower price I’d seen on the tag because they were mislabelled and was so incredibly kind about it.
Also, when I dig deeper — I’m grateful not just for these employees, performing their jobs with excellent customer service and problem solving, but for the miracle of modern medicine, for access to insurance, medical care, doctors, pharmacists, medicine, and clean water and good food!
My Takeaways:
Gratitude feels like a chore sometimes. Ugh, I should practice gratitude again?
Here’s the thing, though. Sort of like exercise sometimes feels like a chore, but we do it anyway and then nearly always feel better…I encourage you to apply the same mindset to gratitude. Don’t just think of it as a one-off thing — you wouldn’t work out just once and expect amazing results, right? So, flex that mindset muscle and really practice gratitude on the daily for a while — it gets easier and easier to see the good all around you as you strengthen your mental gratitude muscle, I promise!
I think you’ll soon see that not only do others feel great when you appreciate them and let them know it, but practicing gratitude is a HUGE gift…to yourself.
Once you start, it can be hard to stop, because there are so many little things that happen each and every day that are GOOD — the barista who smiles at you in a genuine way, the colleague who really goes above and beyond to help you out and understands you’ll have their back too when the time comes, the boss who steps in to support you when you’re in the weeds, the client who is understanding and flexible in your time of need, the partner who shows up when you really need them.
What would happen if, instead of focusing on the often-crappy circumstances life throws our way, and ourselves— being injured, feeling sick, exhausted, oroverhwelmed — we focused on others, outside of ourselves, and feeling grateful for all the good, big or small, we experience each day, and then considering how we can pay that forward and serve others around us when we have the bandwidth again? 🤔
It’s a little magical how gratitude can reframe most any circumstance. My Big takeaways here:
- It’s OK to not be OK.
- It’s OK to ask for help.
- People will usually understand and often step up in really helpful, supportive ways, if you let them.
- You’re never really alone.
- Even (especially? 🤔) crappy circumstances can be training ground for resilience.
How about you? Is there a circumstance in your life right now, at work or at home, that you could apply a little gratitude practice to? Is there a person that you could thank for their help and support?
Or, on the other side of the coin, if you’re doing well right now, do you see someone in your life who is struggling? How might you step up to make a connection or serve or support them better?
Please take some time to comment or clap below if anything resonated here, I’d love to hear your examples of reframing hard circumstances using the gift of gratitude! 🤩💪
