If you don’t notice it, you can’t be grateful for it
My gratitude practice is in three parts: Noticing, Appreciating, Sharing. The first step is the most important and the most overlooked step. We can’t be grateful for something we don’t notice. The beautiful thing about noticing is that it’s a habit. The more you notice, the more you will notice. I happened to notice something tiny and beautiful when I walked into my yard earlier. It was the drop of rain hanging on to the pine needles of my tree (see eCard below). This is a very simple thing, not something I would lock into memory until my dying day. But it is a moment of being present and finding beauty that I could have very easily ignored.
The second step is appreciating. Once you notice something good or bad, beautiful or hideous, or just an everyday sight, you can choose how you respond to it. Will you find the bad in it and complain? Will you find the good in it and appreciate it? Will you ignore it or some other response? Remember that gratitude is a choice. It is a choice that you can practice and practice makes habit.
The third step is sharing. There are few things as beautifully contagious as authentic gratitude. Share your gratitude and others will naturally think about what they are grateful for. You might share your gratitude with us on facebook, with your family over dinner, in a text to a friend, or any way that is comfortable for you.
[su_quote cite=”unknown”]When you seek beauty in all people and all things you will not only find it you will become it.[/su_quote]
This Week’s Gratitude Question
[su_button url=”http://www.ourgratitudecollective.com/activity/” background=”#178fb3″]What did you notice today that you are grateful for?[/su_button]
My Gratitude Experience Last Week
My girlfriend and I have a guilty pleasure TV show that we watch. One day last week we watched three episodes in a row. I felt really irritable and unhappy during the third episode and went to the bedroom to have some peace and quiet. I was grateful for knowing when enough is enough. Looking at this a little deeper I am also grateful for knowing my body and my mind enough to recognize early signs of unhappiness and choosing something else instead of getting stuck on that path.
Forgotten Gratitude
Last week I was also grateful for not having the daily headaches I used to have … Finding out the truth even though it wasn’t easy to hear … A helpful librarian who took the time to talk with us and educate us.
A New eCard
The Gratitude I Shared Last Week
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| Tue | 9/23/2014 | Today I am celebrating reconnecting with a friend with coffee and a gift of luxurious yarn … Making a fresh healthy dinner when I was tempted to have chips for dinner … A leisurely schedule today and tomorrow. |
| Mon | 9/22/2014 | I’m grateful for the parts of me that are guarded like this beautiful cactus and for more and more parts of me that are a wide open book like this landscape … I’m grateful for a lunchtime nap even though it pushed my work day very late … I’m grateful for mango coconut cream sticky rice and the happy dance that it inspired. |
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My gratitude journey started in May 2011 and continues to this day. Thank you for being a part of it!
A daily gratitude practice is simple. Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Download your free GratitudeGuide.
My clients focus on gratitude and learn from their successes to make the positive changes they want in their lives. You can to. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336.
Created by Antonia Montoya[/su_note]