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Gratitude is the act of appreciating everything that you have and everything that you are.
Merriam Webster describes gratitude as the state of being grateful.
It is also a deed on self-care.
Gratitude is associated with the words thank you, and you know how powerful that phrase is once given and expressed sincerely and frequently.
When you truly and genuinely feel the joy of giving, the happiness in receiving is also a marvelous feeling. It’s an overwhelming emotion to be appreciated.
The old cliché, “it’s better to give than to receive,” is the classic example of practicing gratitude.
It promotes good karma. It’s a cycle, what you give, you receive, what you do to others, you do unto you. What you say or do affects people, and something ricochets to you in some other form. Of course, if you plant mangoes, it will not bear apples.
Gratitude is very powerful once you practice it every day and whole-heartedly.
You must be mentally computing your finances right now.
Perhaps, you have the irritation on the scattered toys in your living room, or the dishes are not washed yet; garbage is getting stinky, looming deadlines or neighbor’s dog is barking too loud.
How can you possibly say your thank you when you are irate, and all you want is to whine and mope? So you? It’s all drama in your mind.
You can even use the power of gratitude to change lives, to reach your dream, and to mend broken relationships.
But in this blog, I will be discussing gratitude in general.
I grew up in a home where we were taught that we were not rich. We were not living in poverty, but resources were scarce. We were not allowed to make friends with rich kids because they might hurt us somehow, but that didn’t stop me from having more fortunate friends.
I was even ashamed of our house and what my parents did for a living. My parents had a small business in the wet market, buy and sell of pork meat. They bought live pigs and had them slaughtered to sell. It was profitable, but I never heard them teaching us to be thankful. We didn’t say our graces. Growing up, we were compared to a neighbor’s kids. I owned 2 pairs of socks when I was in high school and 2 sets of uniforms for the whole week. But I enjoyed washing the laundry, and it was never an issue for me.
It was actually a happy circumstance because it led me to where I am today.
I learned along the way what the issues were, and I attracted people and resources to help me outgrow those boundaries. Still, somehow, there are limiting beliefs that constricted my path to attain my true potential.
Since I recognized my weaknesses, I tried looking for ways to surpass those stumbling blocks; it took me decades, but my eagerness to change my life led me to focus on myself, and I came across several resources that helped me with my journey. I have a lot.
I practiced meditation.
I lived, mindfully.
I had a happiness project.
I practiced kindness and awareness.
I choose to be grateful every day.
I thought I could maneuver smoothly, but no!
I was a prisoner of my limiting beliefs, so now I am learning mindset.
Practice makes permanent, and every day is our choice.
But as I have mentioned above, let’s focus on gratitude.
Among all those I have mentioned, gratitude hovers over. If you are ingrateful, you will not find happiness, you won’t be kind, and your life will be dimmed and constricted.
Have you noticed yourself waking up with a heavy heart?
Have you ever analyzed why?
Retiring at night with a heavy heart will undoubtedly result in a bad mood in the morning.
Tell me, I’m wrong.
Your state of mind upon sleeping tells you the kind of morning that awaits.
Here are a few tricks you can do to have a peaceful sleep and a happy disposition in the morrow.
Write down 10 blessings you received today. You can start with these samples:
I am grateful to ________________________ because ______________________________________.
I am thankful for _______________________ because ______________________________________.
I am truly glad with _____________________ because ______________________________________.
If you are having difficulty;
focus on your day;
your waking hour;
the food on your table;
the water you bathe in;
the air you breathe;
somebody prepared your food;
the delivery man of your online shopping;
a friend who checked on you;
the happiness your fur-baby give you;
the money you have etc.
Reread your list, feel the happiness, and pick the one you are most thankful for; close your eyes and say THANK YOU three times.
Do this gratitude practice because you are genuinely grateful. If you feel obligated, take a deep breath 3x.
Inhale in 6 counts; Hold for 3; Exhale in 7 counts.
Are you okay now? So go back to what you are about to do.
Gratitude helps you to find your center and be mindful. It is also a practice of having a positive mindset.
Appreciating everything around you gives you dopamine and oxytocin.
You feel lighter, and everything becomes smoother.
There are plenty of ways to practice gratitude.
Was there a chance you were kneeling to pray, and you do not know where to begin? Thank you is one loud prayer. And you can tell the Sovereign Being, God, The Universe how grateful you are for everything that comes to mind.
If you feel that my suggestion can take too much of your time and you cannot commit to doing this for the rest of your lives, give me your 86,400 seconds. That equals 24 hours.
Here’s your mission:
Refrain from complaining for the next 24 hours.
If you caught yourself doing so, then focus on happy thoughts and things you are grateful for.
This way, you are mindful. You are choosing to be happy, and you are in your space of Love and gratitude.
Awesome, right?
Of course, while reading this, a voice in your head will tell you it’s easier said than done.
But hey!
Hey!
I had been there.
Here’s a short story:
Payroll came on the 5th of the month and 20th. So before those dates, I already scheduled bills and payments.
Paycheck arrived.
I was focused on my bills, groceries, and other responsibilities.
My mind was computing expenses while I was in front of the ATM, withdrawing the money.
I felt worried that money wouldn’t take us to another paycheck.
My stress level was so high my migraine attacked.
Did the money buy us food and other necessity? Yes.
Did I pay the bills? Yes.
Did my worry bridge me to another paycheck? No.
I lived in that mindset, day in and day out.
My gratefulness was superficial.
Tithing had been an expense.
I felt so tired, and my job became a nuisance because it didn’t give me enough.
My days seemed gloomy, and I felt so stressed.
My cortisol level got out of whack.
Where did it take me?
I was stranded.
I was stressed-out, pimply, and weight was mismanaged.
I survived, yes, but my life was miserable.
I prayed.
I called God.
I was crying.
I told God I couldn’t take it anymore.
What I neglected was to thank Him.
I was just grateful when I was abundant, but when I was in scarcity, I found faults, I complained a lot. I didn’t see the goodness behind the challenges.
This happens to most of us.
To you.
You are not perfect.
But you can perfect your perspective by practicing gratitude.
When I came across the teaching of gratitude, it changed my life tremendously.
It has taught me to live in the present moment and be grateful for every little thing.
If you live with high frequency, Love has a frequency of 500 while apathy is in 50, you tend to attract people on that same level.
I will be talking about frequency next time.
I was so happy, and I love myself and everything around me. The sad part was that low-frequency people were also attracted, and they tried raining on my parade.
Here are a few of low-frequency energy:
Shame – 20
Guilt - 30
Apathy – 50
Grief – 75
Fear – 100
Those will surely pull you down.
Negative people carry these frequencies; that’s why dealing with them exhausts you.
So protect yourself and stay in your space of Love and happiness. Gratitude keeps you on your high frequency.
Looking back, tabbing on my past experiences, I decrypted the faults; I could trace back why and chose to move forward.
I was even grateful for the past mistakes that I had because it led me to my present life.
I understand it is not easy being happy when you are scarce in resources, but why mope when you can say thank you for having the resources, even how inadequate. Some people do not have any.
I only have 500 in my wallet, and I have bills to pay. Should I affirm I do not have money?
Even if the bill in my purse happens to be 20, I have money, and I have to be grateful for that.
The more you are grateful, the more blessings flow.
The more you are grateful, the better your dispositions are.
The more you are grateful, the brighter your day becomes.
The more you are grateful, the more people are drawn to you. Why? Because they want to wear the smile you have.
Gratitude needs to be mastered, and mastery comes from practicing every day.
Again, practice makes permanent.
Keep saying thank you for every single blessing you receive, and you will be blessed immensely.
You can start a gratitude journal; click the link below to get my gift for you.
There's power in gratitude.
It is one of the secret ingredients in the Law of Attraction; it has been used for centuries for success and discoveries.
It can work in your life too.
Practice it daily, start the day with affirmation and end it with gratitude, and your life will be changed gradually over time.
I will be talking more about affirmation in my next blog.
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