The Purpose Of Gratitude
Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast where the topic was all about gratitude and the awareness around our propensity to see deficits in our lives, rather than the gifts.
The husband and wife team were sharing with their audience, all of the beautiful, yet also difficult times they had experienced over the years, and were recounting the messages that had brought about lessons, shifts and awareness through the unfolding of time.
This theme has been one that I've been shown over the last month, over and over again---the ability of gratitude to build and support the energy of abundance, of satisfaction and of stability.
It's a theme that feels somewhat trite at this time of year--don't we pretty much always talk about gratitude at the holidays?---yet somehow, it also feels brand new in this expanding world of ours.
The host of the podcast asked a beautiful question of his wife, (who happens to be a yoga and spiritual teacher) which loosely, was: "How do we release the mind loops of negativity? And what can we do to shift into gratitude more easily?"
Her answers were simple yet powerful; all about awareness as a practice, about breathing techniques that could assist in releasing anxiety and resistance, about releasing the stories that we allow to define us, about what would happen if we dropped those stories away for good.
As spiritually aware beings, we work at this so we can expand our knowing within ourselves and therefore the world we create. Ultimately, this expansion shows us our multidimensionality---the countless possibilities that we have access to.
In this perspective, gratitude is not simply a practice for shifting into a more positive outlook and the world we perceive, but also a creation point where our developed mindset and most importantly, our feelings, allow us to be in a space of contentment and excitement, which guides us to the allowing of what we really desire.
Gratitude as a vibration, just feels good.
It feels good to say "Thank you for this roof over my head."
"Thank you for that person at the grocery store who let me go in front of her and saved me fifteen minutes, so I could get to work on time."
"Thank you for that relationship ending so I could bring in something that's more in alignment with me."
"Thank you for that message that is showing me I need to have more fun."
"Thank you for the lesson of having to use my voice to speak my truth."
Gratitude then becomes a barometer for our ability to shift out of a benign or even upsetting experience and rather, create a more desired outcome. It re-structures the field of infinite possibilities where we have positive expansion, less suffering and more fun.
HERE ARE A FEW STEPS FOR RE-STRUCTURING YOUR POTENTIAL:
1. Awareness: Notice the negativite mind-loops or attaching to the idea of who you think and say you 'are'. What if you didn't fit that narrative anymore? Who would you be? Can you un-attach from all of it and create something new and more aligned?
2. Cancel those narratives and loops by saying out loud "CANCEL THAT!", and then re-create a new language that speaks more truthfully and accurately to what you want to believe or see happen. This technique is explained fully by David R. Hawkins in his book "Healing and Recovery"
3. Feel the emotion behind what you desire to create. In his book, Busting Loose From The Money Game, Robert Scheinfeld talks about how humans 'do' things because they like the way it feels. If you want to create more positive experiences for yourself, drop into the feelings of hope, passion and fun, while you're imagining or participating in that creation process.
4. If number three is challenging due to being stuck deeply in a dense mind-loop, then bring to memory something really positive, joyful, or expansive that you can be grateful for. Maybe it was an amazing vacation, or the time your grandchildren were born, or seeing a natural wonder for the first time. Reaching into your bank of good stuff will only increase more good stuff and raise you to the next level.
5. Repeat the process until it becomes second nature to be in gratitude naturally. Hint: this is a daily practice in itself, but is entirely worth it!
If you're looking for more ideas around shifting mindset, energy and more, go to my website to explore free energy tools, clearing and coaching sessions and courses that will support you in moving to the next level.
Many holiday blessings and enjoy the practice of creative gratitude!
Sherri
