Shifting to Gratitude

The power of our thoughts has a ripple effect on our lives. In the last blog we talked about the awareness of our thoughts. Through the process of observing your thoughts, what experience did you have? What did you learn from this? Did you notice a shift in the way you think or feel? Perhaps as a result of paying attention, you may have noticed yourself being less negative in your thoughts.

The next step is to clutter clear that which brings negative thoughts and feelings. Now that you are aware of what, where or who, triggers negative thoughts for you, you can choose to take action. Perhaps these are people in your life that you have become used to being around. As you have grown as a person, you no longer fit their way of thinking. In this case you can build a new tribe of people who inspire uplifting thoughts.

Perhaps your clutter comes in the form of a past experience that triggers a reaction for you, leading to negative thoughts or emotions. In this case, create a new reaction for yourself. If you know what triggers you, avoid it. If you can’t avoid it, when you are in a clear space of mind, make a list of alternate ways to react or feel about the situation. In other words, shift your perspective of the experience. If the experience involved another person, perhaps look at what they may been feeling that caused them to act in a certain way towards you. If it was a place or situation, forgive yourself for not responding in the way you may have wanted to – create scenarios of how you could respond instead. Then let go and let it be.

The most effective way to shift into positive thinking practices is gratitude. You may have heard this many times. The key to a gratitude practice is to really feel the feeling of gratitude as you list things you are grateful for. What are you thankful for today? Make a list of five things to begin with. If you find yourself coming up with more items, continue your list for as long as you are able to genuinely feel the gratitude for each item you are listing. There is no right way to do this. It is about focusing on whatever you appreciate, feel grateful for and feel happy about, such as stroking your pet, a sound, a song, a person, a place or an experience.

You are meant to live a life of absolute, unconditional joy. I challenge you, for this coming week, to focus on the things you appreciate about your life. Each morning and evening, list at least three things you appreciate that day. No matter how small or big something is, if you felt gratitude for it, put it on your list.