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Saturday 22 March 2014

100 Days of Gratitude

About 3 years ago I was going through a rough spot. I had just finished dating someone and began questioning so many things along my life path. I felt unbalanced, hurt, confused and scared. I would ask myself or whoever was listening when I would feel like myself again. The truth is, we never fully go back to being ourselves. With making the right choices we can expand and grow into a more beautiful self or revert back into a self that's comfortable - this is where things become stuck. Stuck. Life seems to stop flowing. It's annoying. And you don't have to stay here long, because guess what - it's a choice...well this is what I have learned anyways. What helped me get on my feet again and become the better version of myself was a simple gratitude list. In a conversation with someone they had suggested 100 days of gratitude to get myself back into a place of joy. To put this simply - it worked. It was a big commitment and a very unique experience but it helped me remember all of the simple things in life that I am presented with every single day that are so wonderful, amazing and AWESOME!
Definition of Gratitude: Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. (Wikipedia)
There is a key word in this definition - ATTITUDE! - we have so much power to control how we feel about anything. It's really incredible. When I read this definition though, I don't want anyone to misunderstand the word receive - this isn't referring to anything material - well I guess in a basic way maybe - but isn't waking up to birds chirping and the sunshine something to feel good about? Something to feel grateful for? We receive blessings in weather, sound, light and more...I think people sometimes overlook these little things that can make us have a positive feel good attitude. It is a process to genuinely acknowledge all of the amazing blessings we have received, such as a safe drive to work, a delicious meal, the smell of a campfire, a conversation with a friend, a job that makes you smile, having food, having clothes...we can and should thank our lucky stars every day for where we are, who we are, and who is with us.
What did my 100 days look like? Well, the first day went something like this;
Day 1: I'm grateful for....this grateful list.
I actually laughed at my first entry...this is going to be easy.
Day 2: coffee and fresh air.
At this point I had a lot more to include and it was rushing through me, I could feel the joy that I was creating. But I stuck to it with the same amount of entries as the number of days in...I carried around this notebook with me EVERYWHERE I went. And I made a promise to myself - write it when you feel it. I may have been grateful for fresh air a few days in a row - but I needed to stop and acknowledge what I received and how I felt. This is important with the grateful list, everything needs to be intentional. If you just wake up and start writing your families names in order and the same things in order everyday - you're losing the intention. The intention is to remember what you have that makes you grateful and find that feeling it gives you inside. And believe me - my family was in there, but i made a point to think about them, and why I loved them so much and why I was thankful for them.
It started to get a little hard around Day 50 (even more by Day 80) - finding the time became a little bit more difficult and my book was starting to fill up, I actually started to tape in more pages. This list was staying in one piece. I made it fit into my life, if I was working the book was out with me so that I could quickly jot down my feelings of gratitude as they happened. If I was out with friends, it was with me. It was a transformational journey. An amazing one.
And here's the result...by the end of the 100 days my feelings of hurt and upset were totally healed, my balance restored. Success. I think if you are ever in a bad place, any type of gratitude commitment is an extremely powerful tool for healing and for bringing yourself into a better state of mind. For me, this is exactly what I needed, some people might need more and that's okay....but what do we have to lose by giving gratitude a try?! It might actually surprise you.
Day 100: the last on my list of 100 Days of Gratitude: I'm grateful for this list.
Thank you for reading my blog today, wishing everyone a day filled with a GRATEFUL heart <3

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