How grateful are you?
The book of 2017 is closed and filled with stories, high’s and low’s and insights. So much richness and fullness. Can you be mindful of what you have received and celebrate this abundance? There are others who might not be so fortunate…
Six ways to be more grateful
1. Keep a gratitude dairy next to your bed: reflect daily on what you are grateful for. It may be the smallest of things: your spouse making you tea, that lost bracelet you found in a pocket of a vest you did not wear for a long time, that client that finally came through or your pet that plays in the sun.
2. Give something to others: perform an act of change for someone else. Take an elderly person for a walk who does not have any relatives close by to his/her retirement home. Clean the path from snow for your neighbor.
3. Look around with an appreciative eye: that scenic sunset in front of you when you are stuck in traffic, find something beautiful in everybody you pass in the office or street and tell them!
4. Think grateful thoughts: it is good for your health: our biology responds by lowering blood pressure, it relaxes the muscles, improves our immune system, and makes us sleep better. Think about your new beginnings: what patterns were you able to change into better and serving behavior?
5. Reflect upon the following:
– What do I want to let go of in 2018?
– What do I want to welcome in my life?
– What is my next step to realize this?
6. And finally: Say Thank You OUT LOUD: I am grateful for Mother Earth who provide us with everything we need, I am grateful for my perseverance by which I surpassed a difficult phase in my life, I am grateful for my parents who chose to have me, I am grateful for my lovely home in which I feel relaxed, safe and we have fun, I am thankful for my health. I am grateful that I exist and that I bloom and grow.
Then breathe in and out and observe mindful how this makes you feel.
