Life is a beautiful gift, isn’t it? While on a walk recently I stopped to appreciate the perfection of these thistles and the way the sunlight hit them jussst right. Wow.🤩
We all have these moments of appreciation, but did you know that gratitude is a learned behavior?
We tend to think of it as something that comes naturally, but in actuality it is something we have to practice, and the more we practice the more naturally it happens.
The opposite is true, too. It can be only too easy to dwell in a negative state and entirely forget how blessed we are.
We might even say that we have to unlearn a lack of gratitude as well as developing a practice of appreciation to achieve lasting joy.
We live in a world where we tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive, and so forget to be aware of the abundant reality that most of us live in. Politics, the media, and the issues pertaining to this global pandemic – along with a host of other subjects – can cause anyone to head into a tailspin of negative emotion.
I’ve written before that I have a daily gratitude practice that improves my level of happiness dramatically, but I still found myself in this downward cycle last night.
After a very enjoyable evening with friends I stopped to pick up some groceries. As often happens, I ended up spending wayyy more time than I had intended in the store and as a result was home putting away groceries at nearly 10pm, tired and more than a little grumpy as a result.
“This sucks. Why am I frickin’ putting away groceries at 10 pm when I should be getting ready for bed?” I still have to do those dishes from earlier. The dog is whining. (Because I was being stupid noisy in the kitchen and she was trying to sleep…😒) Well f#ck, I just broke the coffee pot.”… (because I wasn’t being aware)
And before you know it, I’m thinking about all the other negative events from the day, the fact that my back is a little tender right now as a result of days of moving furniture and projects around the house and a host of other negatives just because. 😑
But this morning, as I prepared a gf bagel with the lox, herbed goat cheese, capers and avocado I had picked up while shopping last night for breakfast, I reminded myself that my negative state of the night before was a CHOICE that I made.
I could have been feeling excited and grateful for the gorgeous lox I found on sale, the herbed goat cheese spread that I hadn’t seen before, along with a variety of other items many would consider “luxury foods” but I am blessed to enjoy daily.
I could have been grateful for the fact that I have money in the bank to buy those groceries in the first place.
I could have been thinking about the lovely time I had with friends earlier, the myriad projects I have completed recently, the sun and blue skies that broke from days of clouds and rain here in the Pacific NW – or a thousand other wonderful things that I experience on the daily.
But instead I chose to slide from being unhappy about putting away groceries at 10pm to an all-out pity party negative state.
How many out there can relate? How often do we start our day in a wonderful mood but after reading the news or discussing politics at the water cooler find ourselves wishing for a nightcap – at lunchtime – to dampen the killer tension headache we have suddenly developed? Or we have an evening run-in with an obnoxious driver and find ourselves in a state of rage hours later, unable to sleep well as a result of the cortisol and adrenaline still in our system?
(The mind talks to the body every second, sending chemical messengers into the bloodstream in response to our thoughts and emotions. The way you feel physically is often a reflection of our subconscious thought patterns.)
Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure do like feeling happy, excited and ready to take on the world a whole lot more than being grumpy, anxious and fearful, wanting to crawl into my safe little hole instead of finding fun adventure and good friends.
And I 💯 know that the best way – maybe the only way – to get back to my best self is to change my mind state and vibrational frequencies.
I used to tell my kids to “flip their happy switch” when they were in a negative mood. Taking my own advice, this morning I made the choice to flip my happy switch. I had a fabulous walk with my pups, enjoyed my perfect cup of French press coffee (since I broke my other pot, LOL) and especially savored the preparation and consumption of that breakfast.
As I sit writing this, I am gratefully aware of the gentle breeze stirring the curtains, the soothing, happy blues, purples and yellows of my home, the green plants on my window and my big comfy couch. And my big cup of coffee, obvs.😉
It’s a good day to feel grateful.
It’s a good day to be happy.
It’s a good day to have a really, really good day. Don’t you agree?🥰
What are some things that you are especially thankful for right now? How do you best “Flip your Happy Switch”?
(This just might be the name of my next book, btw… another thing to be grateful for!🤩😁😁)
This Blessed Sacred Life 