I am grateful I get to see so many shade of green!

For me, expressing gratitude is a way to cultivate an attitude of contentment.
There are days where I don’t feel like feeling grateful, or I know the things I should be grateful for, I just don’t feel it.
I have found several ways to get over this:
– I can shake my body vigorously for a few minutes,
– I can use verbal clearings,
– or I can accept it and be grateful later…
What are you not grateful for now, that you may be grateful later?

I was looking for ideas on what helps us have more gratitude for our life and this quote made me smile:
“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”  ~G.B. Stern
I have been talking about gratitude with my in-laws and spending special moments sharing things that warm our hearts.
Who else wants to share?

I shared my lunch with a tree and the tree showed me its heart shaped leaves.
What are you noticing in your day today?

I am grateful for all the tools that I have gathered in books or classes. Today, I am using Ho’oponopono for all the thoughts or energies that are crossing my path seemingly uninvited.
It is a bit like “return to sender with consciousness” with a Hawaiian taste to it. How did it get any better than that?

I am grateful I got to try something new. I had to discuss this with myself a little, on the way to the ticket booth. It went a bit like that:
– this looks like fun.
– yes, but I just ate. I’m full. It looks like a lot of efforts. Maybe I’m going to get wet.
– it’s warm enough, getting wet would be ok.
– if I do it, I’ll be happy I tried.
So I went.

I have talked about how my mum expressing happiness when I was a child, annoyed me. It always puzzled me as well that I was annoyed.
I thought for a while that she was faking it and maybe that’s what annoyed me.
But now in retrospect, I believe that it made me aware that I didn’t perceive what she perceived (Joy / happiness) while wanting to and that’s what annoyed me. Maybe it was a bit of jealousy. Or maybe I was perceiving what she was saying as boasting even tho it was just appreciation…
Still pondering…
What awareness could I have that would allow me to be happier even if it is considered boasting/annoying?
I am grateful for being able to be happy for other’s expression of happiness.

In an article I was reading on gratitude research, there was this bit:
 “So much of gratitude is about one’s perspective and framework for looking at the world and at self. People who tend to be more mindful of the benefits they’ve received tend to focus their attention outward,” (Professor R. Emmons)
A friend of mine called me asking questions about an event that had just happened. She noticed that her usual way of looking at it did not work for her.
We discussed it and ended up with a different angle, a different framework for the event and that created so much lightness.
I am grateful I got to participate in this creation!

When I go to one of the energy healing classes that I go to, I often get asked by others: “How did your life change since you’ve been going to those classes?” I was often puzzled at what to say because nothing really changed in my life.
Recently, I had the strong realisation that my life hasn’t changed, I have changed. I am now able to appreciate my beautiful life more and more even though it has not changed. How does it get any better than that?
I read an article talking about the point of view that happiness is just a choice. Not that long ago, I still disagreed with this point of view. Now I understand that since what we think about, what we focus on is what creates happiness, then we can choose what we think about which is like choosing happiness. Yes it is not easy, it is like a muscle to train, it requires practice. And it is possible.
I am grateful for this new level of understanding.

I was reflecting on a suggestion someone shared with me that 365 days of gratitude don’t have to be shared in order to have an impact on our life.
At the time, my answer was that I may be more accountable and not drop the ball off if I announce to my friends that I will do it as oppose to announcing to myself and keeping it to myself. Interesting point of view, I have here…
So it reminded me of the fact that happiness annoys a lot of people. And my internet search on this led me to this quote from Earl Nightingale: “We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret”.
I choose to think and share about gratitude all the time because it is such a nice place to be in. I invite you to try it!