Gratitude: Overused or Underrated?

I’m worried that gratitude is getting a bad rap.

Well, not really a bad rap, more of like an eyeroll, ”oh that again” kind of rap.  That’s what happens with good things sometimes.  They catch on, they’re everywhere, and then they kind of lose their thunder. 

Then we’re off looking for the next magic bullet.

Here’s the thing about gratitude though…. It’s an absolute foundation to happiness.  It always has been, it always will be.

I’m at Yale New Haven hospital today.

My daughter is having surgery.  Nothing scary – just a simple little thing, but enough that she’s under general anesthesia.

I’m finding so much to be grateful for…

…the incredibly smart, emotionally present, surgical staff of young women in who’s care I’ve left my child, the fact that we’re not here for something serious, that I have the relationship I do with the now 18-year-old who will always be my baby…

I could go on and on.

At another time in my life, I would have been sick to my stomach sitting here in the family waiting room. 

My emotions would have been flying between fear that something awful might happen, worry that I’d chosen the wrong doctor or wrong time, and pity for the people around me who I would have imagined required such a thing.

Instead, I only feel love. Love for my daughter, love for the women caring for her, love for all of the men and women around me.

And that’s the magic bullet. 

LOVE.

Practicing gratitude is just a way of practicing love. And we all need practice.  

Love in its purest form is a state of courage, openness, peace, strength, connection, trust and acceptance. It is a state beyond fear, where all forms of opportunity and contentment coexist. 

Is it possible to live life purely from a space of love? I doubt it. I’ve never met anyone who could – the Dali Lama maybe?  

But in the practice of it, everything – and I mean everything gets better.

This Week: The Love Bubble

This is one of my favorite exercises to use with my clients – even though it almost always elicits an eyeroll to start.Spend one whole week* walking around in a Love Bubble…

1.     Start by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.  
2.     Now think of the thing that you are most grateful for in this moment.
3.     Allow your mind to fully experience this thing – tap into as many of your senses as possible.
4.     Let yourself smile.
5.     Repeat this process several times each day – this is the Love Bubble.  
6.     Note the way that others respond to you when you approach your interactions from this space. Note the way you feel.

*Seriously, you need to do this for a whole week, but I promise you will notice a difference. 

BIG Love – 

Wendy