As long as I talk about gratitude I will never stop talking about noticing.
Don’t Miss Out on This Moment
I have said it before and will say it again: We can’t be grateful for something we don’t notice. I know that seems obvious. It really does. But still we are scattered. Busy. Worrying. Planning. Remembering. Multi-tasking. So many things pull our attention in every which way. And it’s not all bad. Really it isn’t. So many people blame our phones for this but there is also so much to be grateful for about our phones as well. Good or bad, right or wrong, or something in between, the fact remains that in this era we have to work at being present.
Part of the reason that gratitude is such a beautiful and rich practice is that before we can be grateful for something we have to notice it. And that noticing is medicine in and of itself, the effect of which is compounded by appreciation.
Noticing is not gratitude in and of itself. Actually the best definition I have seen for mindfulness is paying attention with intention and without judgment. So the noticing piece is just noticing. Not appreciating. Not complaining. Not telling a story about it. Just fully noticing as it is.
We can do this when we are eating something we really want to savor or even eating something that we are not too excited to eat. We can do this when we are working. Feeling our hands on the keyboard or on our tools. Even just looking right now. What is there to see that you hadn’t noticed before?
After we have immersed ourselves in the moment using our senses then we can choose to be grateful for some aspect of what we noticed. Or even for the very act of noticing. There will always be things that we notice in our lives. But if we practice paying attention and noticing there will be more and more and more to notice. And in turn so much more to be grateful for.
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.
~Alice Walker
Take it in with all your senses. What are you grateful to see, smell, hear, taste or touch?
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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]