Being in gratitude is not just some abstract New Age craze or something to do once a year on Thanksgiving. Deliberately cultivating an attitude of gratitude can manifest some amazing benefits... when sincerely felt.
Sincerely is the key word.
True gratitude can’t be faked or forced or used to cover up how you really feel. Don't even go there. It will end up being one more suppressive spiritual bypass technique.
What is True Gratitude?
True gratitude is appreciating something exactly as it is, knowing that everything is a Perfect lesson assisting your evolution toward love, trust and connection.
It’s being sincerely grateful for what you have (or don’t have), who you are (or aren’t), what you’re doing (or not doing), and whatever is going on in your life (or not going on).
It’s easy to be grateful for things you label as good. But to be grateful for tough experiences – like living through 2020 -- might be a bit challenging. To say the least. Those pesky fear-based demands about how things have to be sure get in the way of gratitude.
Turning gratitude into a “should,” only succeeds at making you feel wrong and guilty if you aren’t feeling it. Allow yourself to feel whatever you’re feeling, trusting that gratitude will come when the timing is right, when you understand the Bigger Picture of why something happened.
Gratitude Shifts
Sometimes it takes being faced with a devastating illness, or a great loss, to remind you to cherish every moment.
And sometimes life throws a can of peas at you to test your gratitude quotient.
Decades ago, my first Thanksgiving since becoming a vegetarian was hosted by my wonderful Mother-in-Law. I could tell she was frazzled at how to deal with this odd change in my eating habits. As she served everyone heaping plates of turkey and mashed potatoes flooded with gravy, she gave me a big grin and plopped an unopened can of peas on my empty plate!
The room burst out laughing, and so did I.
I knew she was being funny, but I still could’ve felt left out, made fun of and hurt. However, I instantly felt grateful that she cared enough to make it light rather than denouncing or ignoring my dietary choice like others had done.
Feeling gratitude instantly shifted how I experienced that moment, created more love, more connection, more joy. And, a can of peas dinner I'll never forget!
A Gratitude Habit
A Universal Law states: What you freely give, you receive. So, giving gratitude attracts more to be grateful for and more gratitude is gifted to you.
On a scientific level, gratitude actually improves sleep quality, reduces anxiety and depression, lessens inflammation and the risk of heart failure. It affects brain functions on a chemical level, promoting feelings of self-worth and compassion for others.
During these challenging times it might be tricky to feel any degree of gratitude. But, if you shift your perception, you will find something to be grateful for.
Everything you experience is assisting your evolution from fear to love. So, be grateful that you love yourself so much that you’ve attracted challenges just to be able to love yourself and others even more. And, others love you so much that they’ve co-created situations to help your growth.
How 'bout once a day, stop what you’re doing, look around and feel gratitude for something, anything, big or small, serious or silly.
Write down what you're grateful for -- it makes a fascinating read to look back on and it may show you how far you’ve come.
Most importantly, look in the mirror and express gratitude toward the person looking back. Out loud. It can be for something you accomplished, a quality, surviving 2020, or whatever moves you in the moment.
Honestly, how can you not be grateful knowing that everything is miraculously working for your highest good? Thanks 2020!
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Want to feel more grateful for your life by resolving the negative pull of your past? Royce Morales, a renowned spiritual teacher for decades, shares breakthrough tools to discover and resolve the roots of negative, self-sabotaging programming. Create the life you deserve!
Royce offers remote group classes, an e-course and private inner journey sessions using life-shifting spiritual clearing techniques.
Contact Royce for a free fifteen minute consultation to see if this inner-journey work is a good fit.
Royce is the author of three fascinating books about her teachings: “Want: True love, past lives and other complications;” “Know: A spiritual wake-up call;” and “Back: Rebirth After Stroke,” all available on amazon.com
Her website is www.RoyceMorales.com and Twitter is @RoyceMorales. She can be reached at LvsreaL@aol.com