Gratitude:I had lunch at Miracle Beach this week. I had been there before with one of my dear friend. She can find heart-shaped rocks every where but Miracle Beach is one of her top spots. So I tried to find heart-shaped rocks. And it is a little bit like gratitude: you have to really look and go slow to notice the shape of each rock. And I noticed that at first I released all the heart-shaped rocks I picked up because they were not heart-shaped enough…
Where in our lives are we not being grateful for things that are not gratitude-shaped?
How can we really look and find more gratitude as if we were looking for heart-shaped rocks?
Gratitude:I was reading something that brought a smile to my face. It wasn’t because it was funny but more because it was heart warming. I wonder how could I consciously add things to my life that bring a smile to my face…
2015-05-26 Gratitude:I saw a video on Facebook about a woman who is raising money to make a documentary to teach women how to love their body.
It is something that I have been changing in the last few months. The Access Consciousness classes have helped and I still have body-love travels to take.
But in this journey, I became more grateful for my body that contributes to my joyful life in so many different ways. Thank you Body!
I was talking with a fabulous young woman about gratitude and other things and she said that she felt she needed more confidence. We talked about how being proud of what we do is a way to boost confidence (and happiness). I wonder if listing 3 things we are proud of about ourselves, every night, would have the same effect than listing 3 things we are grateful for…
Gratitude:I’m so cute: after asking Rolly if he would exchange the 3 things he’s grateful for in his day, I promptly forgot about it and have not brought up the subject up with him again.
So I just set a daily reminder in my phone to make sure I don’t forget to bring up the subject.
I am making having more gratitude a priority in my life…
Gratitude:Rolly and I were on our way to the village for a free concert and I asked him if he would be willing to verbalize gratitude with me every evening following the recommendation from Dc Anthony Mattis.
He said “Sure, I can use the same three things every day”…
Me: “Fine. What are your three things”
Him: Now?
Me: Yes.
Him: My lovely wife (he kind of had to because of the “Fine” above :), where I live and free concerts.
Me: (big Smile). Actually, the three things need to be about the day we just had. So it can not be always the same things every day.
So this reminded me of something about gratitude. A part of increasing gratitude in our lives is to extend gratitude to others, telling others when we are grateful for. But the other part is receiving the gratitude (thank yous) others give us.
Gratitude:
I am grateful that I got to listen and call in on a radio show on gratitude. It was the “Infinite Energies with Lisa Benitz” radio show with guest Dr. Anthony Mattis.
He recommended doing the gratitude exercise in verbalizing three things that we are grateful for, not just thinking. I wonder if that could be a beginning to trigger the emotion of gratitude…
Here is a clip from the radio show:
2015-05-19
Gratitude:
In order to emote gratitude, I think I need to connect with my body in a different way.
I was having lunch at my friend’s house and I asked if she had any fancy jam to have something sweet at the end of our meal. She pulled out a pot of Champagne Rose Petal jelly. We decided to have some with tea. And then we decided to make it a whole experience: we pulled out the fancy tea cups and actually made tea in a pot. There is something different about tea brewed in a pot (with a tea cozy) as opposed to directly in a mug…
And when we drank our tea, we made sure to have our little little finger up in the air. And my friend talked with a British accent (me I talked with a French accent for a change)…
I read recently that when we write the details of a positive experience, the brain reacts as if we were re-living the experience…
And I wonder if reading about the experience can have a positive effect too…
I am grateful for this special moment of friendship with special details.
What else is possible?
2015-05-18
Gratitude:
In the first video I watched on Gratitude that sparked my gratitude posts, the speaker (Jane Ransom) talked about emoting gratitude. (No, I am not making that word up!).
She said: “It is not enough just to think about gratitude, you’ve got to feel the emotion.”
According to the Webster dictionary, to emote means to express emotion in a very dramatic or obvious way and to give expression to emotion especially in acting.
This really picked my interest because it brings a new dimension to the gratitude exercise. I would like more information on how to consciously create the emotion of gratitude…
In case you’re interested in this TedX talk on gratitude, here is the link:
I am grateful that this video started my gratitude travels.
2015-05-17 Gratitude:
At the end of the day, I prepare my gratitude post for the next day and I look at who has liked my post the day before.
And tonight as I did that, I first felt grateful for my friends and then I thought to myself: I have readers! How lucky am I?
To feel lucky, is it the same as being grateful?
2015-05-16: Gratitude:
I believe that the intent of the well known suggestion of writing a gratitude journal is focusing on what works in our lives instead of what doesn’t work.
For me, my attempts at gratitude journals in the past did not bare fruits.
The mental exercise did not change how I felt.
This time around I am adding a different dimension.
Since I started taking energy healing classes, I am restoring my ability to be moved by the world around me. Before that, I think I had made myself numb because I didn’t know how to deal with the suffering that exists in the world. Now I have tools. And I am grateful for the tools because along the way they allowed me to feel and perceive gratitude deeply. What a gift!
Happy, thank you, more please! What else is possible?
2015-05-15 Gratitude:
Sometimes, I travel for work. I love it. How did I get so lucky?
Yesterday, I was checking in a hotel for work and the receptionist pulled out a little gift bag from under the desk and gave it to me as a thank you for being a regular guest. I was going to look into the bag to see what was in it and then thought: “who cares what’s in it: I am being given a gift for staying in a hotel that my work is paying for!” How does it get any better than that? So then I was sharing my delight with the receptionist and she looked surprise that I could be delighted by a bag holding a bottle of water and an apple. Her surprise made me realize that the way we look at things affect how much gratitude we can have. I could look into the bag and be like “whatever” or I could receive a gift from a total stranger and be delighted for it… I choose being delighted. It makes for a much more interesting life!
2015-05-14 Gratitude:
Last night, I met two amazing women in my Access Body Process class. We all got new awarenesses of patterns that no longer serve us and we got to look at new possibilities. So much sweetness!
Gratitude to you two!
Melijoy 