In contrast to my constant frustration with waiting for my new planned-for future to arrive (and, yes, the idea of planning anything ever will always be incredibly eye rolling for me) is my ever-present gratitude for what so many refer to as The Present Moment.
I mean, it IS all we ever have.
When did Oprah start telling us to keep gratitude journals? Hold on, I'm gonna search that...
Oh, 1996. Even earlier than I thought. Well, I didn't try the idea until late 2008. At the time I was very unsure of what was going on in my life- where I was, what I was doing. Hmmm, sounds familiar. I wanted to refocus my mind on the positive things I had so I started a gratitude journal. I wrote often at first, always thankful for my health and loved ones. Then I just wrote every couple of weeks or so. Then every couple of months. But I always wrote. Even if I forgot for awhile. I would remember and come back and jot down a few things I was thankful for. And, well, basically, what I want to share is I just now finished that journal. 2008-2017. Nine years of gratitude.
It's pretty cool. The practice helped me shift my thinking over time. I'm not a fan of "positive thinking all the time." Like, I don't think we manifest everything we envision and sometimes life just sucks and it's important to be real and feel that too. But, I do value gratitude. There's usually always something to be thankful for. I have no intentions of finding a silver lining in every situation, but I do like to pause and be thankful for different things.
My health. Well, the parts of my health that are healthy.
My resilience.
My husband.
My dog.
My lack of food insecurity.
My house that I rent.
My school that I attend.
My dreams for the future.
My means to work toward those dreams.
Gratitude helps lighten the load.
This is lovely. Gratitude truly does help to lighten the load, and being in the moment can provide some blessed relief too.
ReplyDeleteGreat point!! Being in the moment can definitely provide some relief at times! So can volunteering or being of service to someone. But that's for another post, another day. :) Thank you, Mali.
DeleteBeautiful. It's wonderful to find so many things to be thankful for, especially when you're feeling those ARRGGGGGHHHHH moments. I'm not a big fan of ALL POSITIVE ALL THE TIME thinking either, but I do like focusing (or refocusing if it's been a bad day) on the good things. I've been trying to be conscious of finding something to be grateful for or something to compliment or twist to a positive instead of complaining quite so much, and it does shift your mood quite a bit. :) (So does a well-timed bitch session though, but overall shifting to gratitude is a better most-of-the-time route to go, ha ha.)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, venting can be very necessary too. Life is a balance. ;)
DeleteI think finding things to be grateful for is a really good practice. That's so cool you kept a journey all those years!
ReplyDeleteYes, it does! :) It's very easy to wallow & dwell on what we don't have and what's wrong with our lives, but there really is so much to be grateful for if we stop and think about it.
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