I’m so grateful!
Everyone says it. And at times, most everyone feels is. But living a full life requires exercising the muscle of gratitude in every moment… even the painful ones.
Feeling grateful can only happen if you are “in the moment”. When life is grand and everything’s coming up roses it’s so easy to be grateful. But it’s when times are tough and it’s uncomfortable or painful, you are still in the moment but you see the growth benefits. Not easy. Let me give you an example.
For the past few weeks I’ve had the amazing luck of being able to travel with my friend who is a flight attendant. Even better, because she has been doing this job for such a long time, I get to fly at her seniority level. Basically, I’ve flown either first class of comfort plus to Europe and back 5 times in a matter of a few weeks.
My level of gratitude is sky high, (pun intended), and being grateful is easy!
While I have been traveling, sometimes the lines are long, or the flights are full or worse yet, I haven’t made it on to a flight. Not doom and gloom, but irritating and requiring patience. Having an attitude of gratitude helps me to see the extra time in the airport as relaxing downtime, (you can’t clean or do laundry in an airport, you know what I mean?), and suddenly my mood shifts. It’s all about what you tell yourself, and it starts by being grateful. Which of course I am when there is no cleaning or laundry involved.
It’s easy to feel grateful when life feels abundant. My friend from Barcelona calls this, “Vivir en abundancia,” and my Dutch friend calls it, “Overvloedig leven”. A life of abundance or an overloaded life. No matter the language, abundance is the best. Lack, not so much. Unless you think of lack as a time to evaluate what true abundance looks and feels like for you.
Remember I said that being grateful comes after you’ve exercised the muscle of gratitude? When life throws you tragedy, how can you be grateful? What does it take to see disease, death or long term suffering as something to be grateful for? It takes understanding that you have one life. This time you have on earth is finite. It also means that you understand that in an instant, your life can change. It’s the hope of a positive change that keeps us hopeful. The strength of our faith that leads to feeling grateful in spite of the tragedy. Just like exercise to grow our muscles is painful at first, gaining strength in our sense of gratitude also begins with struggle. A body builder finds ease in lifting because she has practiced. And a grateful person finds ease in seeing the positive side of life because she has practiced, also.
The easiest way to begin a gratitude practice is to sit quietly and think, or pray thankfully about the blessings in your life. Start with the big things and then think of all of the small things. Like the comfy pillow you put your head on at night, or the magic of electricity that lights your darkness. Keeping a gratitude journal gives you the opportunity to look back at all of the blessings you have when you’re in funk. I practice both, not always consistently, but my gratitude muscle has been developed so that I am profoundly grateful for the smallest things.
When we are in strong physical shape, it is easy to tackle the difficult tasks, and it’s the same with gratitude. You will find it easier to see the hardships of life as waves and not solid, everlasting obstacles. You’ll be able to have peace in the understanding that you’re growing and then you’ll look for the things to be grateful for. Understanding in every moment that “this too shall pass” so stay in the moment and be grateful!
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