I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about gratitude practices before; it’s a common idea. Some of these practices are complicated, and some are simple. What ultimately matters though is that you have a habit or a pattern of expressing your gratitude. The reason for this is rooted in the idea that what you are consciously thinking about is what we are creating more of.
Think about a time where something happened that you weren’t expecting: you got a phone call as you were leaving the house that you could not ignore. Or you hit traffic on your way to an important appointment and now you’ll likely be late. In those moments where we experience something we perceive as negative, our mind – or our ego – will bring up all the other times where we were late, or where people interrupted us as we tried to get on with something. And then, you create more of those situations. Does this sound familiar?
This is the Law of Attraction at work in your life. And if it works with negatives, why wouldn’t it work with positives? Of course it will – it does! So here is the gratitude practice that I use in my life.
As I shared with you before, each morning before I get up, I think about 3 things that I am looking forward to in my day. Often my first thing is that I have clean panties. 😉 And the second is that I will have a good cup of coffee. The third varies and is often something specific about that day in particular: maybe that I’m having lunch with a friend, that I have a new client I’m looking forward to assisting and guiding, or maybe that I’m going to get hugs and kisses from my children. And then, as I go to bed each night I go over 3 things that I feel went well in my day. Some days it’s that I had clean underwear and that there was good coffee. Because some days are tough, aren’t they? Other days it’s that I got my work done timely, that I had time with my husband, and that the sun was shining.
You’ll notice that the things on my lists are typically small things. The point is not to focus on the grand, sweeping moments (because it’s not always realistic to think we’ll have those everyday), but rather little things that bring comfort, joy and stability to my life. As I focus on these ideas, I bring more of the good stuff to my life. The small, everyday miracles that make joy and happiness possible.
Some people write their lists in journals. Some people create art every day as part of their gratitude practice. For me, I keep it simple and totally portable: I *think* my things. That’s right: I don’t even say them out loud most times! I think them. I love that thoughts are seeds planting forward into my future. It allows me the freedom to be in the moment, without barriers or requirements. And that too, is a good thing.