It’s not all daisies and sunsets.
The Reality of Gratitude
Before I started my gratitude practice I used to roll my eyes at people’s gratitude. I mean, come on. Don’t they live in the real world like the rest of us? Where’s the dog shit and the car wrecks and the death? Why is everything so fucking pretty? I just clicked on the instagram #grateful tag and sure enough it is an entire stream of pretty. It is like they are cropping out the realness.
And although at first it seems attractive, our bullshit detectors spring up and soon enough we have an aversion to it. This prettiness is not the reality of life. And it isn’t the reality of a gratitude practice.
Sure, share your gratitude for the good in your life. But don’t do it at the cost of authenticity. Because the fact of the matter is that there is beauty even in the worst of situations. The beauty is not found by ignoring the ugliness. It is found by looking directly at the ugliness with a grateful heart.
Let’s have the courage to be real in all things including our gratitude practice. Sometimes we just aren’t feeling it and that is OK. Show up anyway. Speak your truth and I bet some gratitude will surface. I have learned this from you. And you learn it from me.
We think sometimes we’re only drawn to the good, but we’re actually drawn to the authentic. We like people who are real more than those who hide their selves under layers of artificial niceties.
~Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
What do you have real and true gratitude for even though it isn’t pretty?
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[su_note note_color=”#e7e7e7″ text_color=”#686767″ radius=”0″] 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 too. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336. [/su_note]