Living Well | Gratitude Practice
Sometimes, it abundantly flows all on its own; other times, it requires intention, pushed along by effort. It’s not about perfection, but it is about beauty. And mindset. And hope.
It’s gratitude.
It’s practice.
Practice, where the treasure lies in the doing of it, the motion of it, the act of it, regardless of every other ideal we might impose or expect. A yoga teacher once gently reminded my class that this was yoga practice, not yoga perfect. It’s like that. The repeated doing of it, as best you can, in order to create permanent space for it in your moments, in your thoughts, in your words, in your life, no matter what may be overflowing your days. To pause and focus there.
When beauty and blessings and abundance come? Gratitude.
When opportunity, promotions, and increase arrive? Gratitude.
When you’re strong, sharp, focused? Gratitude.
When tragedy, pain, and loss crash in? Gratitude.
When you’re confused, worried, or ill? Gratitude.
When you hit a wall, completely run out? Gratitude.
It’s the ballast that keeps us upright both in the calm and in the storm.
My husband and I recently began a gratitude practice. Implementing the intention in the simplest way, we chose to each highlight one thing every morning; one gratitude, brought front-of-mind to ruminate over, ponder, and savor throughout the day. A text sent, then, with our gratitude written down for the other to read. A copy and paste into a document to reread again and again.
It’s been life-giving. From the big to the small, gratitude is finding its way in. Finding its way out. Finding its way up, offerings remembered, offerings given.
Perhaps you’d also like to begin a gratitude practice? Perhaps you already have?