What A Week Of ‘Gratituding’ Taught
It's never too late to be thankful
🌸On a day-to-day level, how grateful are we towards our own life? To the magnanimity that it has shown us, to the experiences we have had till date, to the people in it who make it livable?
Just how many times, do we thank someone for being there? They may not be just like you want them to be, but they are there, to see you cry, and to listen to your pain. They are there. They may not respond exactly as you expected, but they are still there. ♡
Are we even aware of this on a basic level? That yes, “I have someone. I have this set of people. I am not alone as I think I am.” 🤷🏼♂️
(Now I am not disregarding the homeless or the lone riders, who stay alone by choice and circumstance. Because I am not eligible to talk about how they feel, as I have no idea.)
However, we can continue as it is and allow, life to eat us up from within.
Or we can choose to empower ourselves with this one little shift in our thought process.
GRATITUDE 🌸
It has been close to a week now since I woke up to a circle of 17 gratituder’s who come together every day for a week to be thankful and give themselves a chance at a life of appreciation.
You may ask why?
The way I see it, we come together to give ourselves one last chance at transformation. At a life which we are sick of living everyday with so many things not working in it. With resentment against almost every person in our life. We are desperate for change. We all want it for ourselves and the universe.
🌸 So, Gratitude, Thank fullness. What has happened since? 💛
I went in with a kind of slyness. Like, ‘Haa, let's see. So many dollars worth of therapy didn't work, and this will? Haa! ok, let's see. Let us wait and watch.
⭕️ The circle begins. This is what I saw and heard and now trying to imbibe. It is tough. No doubt, but whoever said life is going to be easy.
- ✍️ Rephrasing life — To look at me the way I am and for once not be critical of who I am, what I do, and how I do it. Truly appreciating what and how I do things. You will find yourself liking yourself for once. Of course, there are other ways, but I tried this way of looking into the mirror of my heart and liked it.
- 🧟♀️ A complaining mind is never peaceful. I pride myself on maturing into this ‘Critically analytical’ person who can finally see right from wrong. Well, true that! But look where it got me. I am depressed for an aeon of time. I have lost the will to do things dear to me and feel like ending it many times. 🧟♂️
- 🧚♀️The proof of right living is in the happiness it manifests. There is no other proof needed. Long-term happiness results when we have made our peace by focusing on the bigger picture than momentary pleasures. (I am not saying, sleep as long as you want, to stop having a bowl of ice cream, or a glass of wine, but will it lead to long-term happiness goals and life goals?)
- 😇 The ability to appreciate will lead to long-term happiness. It takes so much to be out of depression and give ourselves a life we want to lead. I tried the simple technique of reminding myself each time, I am tempted to complain. I remind myself of the term, “Complaining Mindset”.
- 🙃 ‘But it's impractical’, you may say. Some may even say, “This is BS, but believe me this BS will get you through. Try it. Even in our worse situations, if we can remind our mind, how much there is to be grateful for, things will seem easier and out of that calm mindset we will find newer solutions to our problems.
- Being grateful leads to GRACE. 🙏 In the state of grace, things seem doable.
- When everything is going well, it's easy to be grateful, when they are not, gratefulness in a storm might take you through.
- Can we stop expecting from the closest people in our lives? The closest ones are at the receiving end of our wrath when things don't go right. I think instead of blaming them, we could go ahead and choose to do something about the situation ourselves or ask for help instead.
- 🙏There is always something to be grateful for, even in adverse situations.
- 🙌Acceptance is a superpower. Once we can accept things as they are and as they aren't, we are accepting ourselves. We are suddenly opening ourselves to a realisation of our neglected blessings already present in abundance.
- ♡To be grateful for all the challenges or difficult relationships, the situations in life. These are chosen by the higher self, within you to redirect you to a better you with purpose and all the qualities the soul wants to cultivate.
- 🍇Healthy food is not the only good we feed ourselves and our bodies. What we think, becomes part of our subconscious. Thoughts become the reality we experience.
- Even the choice of words we speak ensures the right language and the right language is a signal to the brain that things are alright. 😇
- 🦋Many of us look back to our childhood with happy memories, but too many of us may have a bitter taste about certain relationships which were especially difficult to navigate as a child. Those are the memories an adult gets stuck with.
- Today 90% of us need inner-child healing. While I am no one to discount this sacred process, I learnt a very important and needed tool through the week. Which is — to remember the beautiful memories of my childhood, as a conscious effort. 🧒
- (Again not discounting the difficult occurrences like abuse and rape experiences. That is something we need professional help with)
- 😇Another beautiful learning was to take pride in what I do, whether it could be as a stay-at-home mom or a homemaker or any professional. To truly see the importance of the work we do and appreciate the opportunity of being in service.
- 🧚♀️ What can I give? what can I give? How can I contribute, how can I make a difference? I don't want to beg for love anymore. If I can change my perspective into being the giver and not dwelling on the feelings of self-pity, I can change my narrative, and so can you. 🧚♂️
Start your gratitude journal. ✍️📖
Keep it at your bedside, and write as soon as you wake up and before you go to sleep. Being in a state of gratitude may take time. Comparisons and the 🧠mind which is used to complaining will keep trying to pull us to old patterns.
🤷🏼♂️Common, you know better now. Do not give up and be in a state of saying ‘Thank you’ for everything you have.
It may seem unnatural, fake or inauthentic in the beginning. But stick to it. It's a process.
Being grateful is the key to grace. And with grace anything is possible.
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https://ko-fi.com/malinismusings
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Sharing some articles that inspired me —
Tagging my dear friends, please let me know if you do not wish to be tagged.
Yana Bostongirl Sahil Patel Jason Provencio Dr. Preeti Singh Dr. Gabriella Korosi Srini Matt Patton Leonard Tillerman Annie Trevaskis Jenny Lane Mai Provencio, LCSW Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles
