Welcoming Gratitude into Your Life
think that in theory most of us recognize the importance of gratitude. Being appreciative and grateful for what we have makes a lot of sense, and yet in practice it is often hard to do.
I have recently experienced gratitude during a very familiar activity: breathing. I should back up at this point and tell you that for the majority of my life (up until 2 years ago) I couldn’t breathe through my nose at all. Thanks to a deviated septum and sinus problems, I had to rely solely on my mouth to get any air. As you might imagine (perhaps you can think of a time when you had a horrible cold), this caused constant struggle and difficulty throughout every aspect of my life. At the time, however, I honestly didn’t know any different, and although on a theoretical level I knew I was suffering, practically I was just living life as I always had. Fast forward to finally agreeing to have surgery, and to the day I took my very first deep nasal breath (diaphragmatic and everything).
Well, that really was the beginning of a new kind of life. And only since that day, have I really come to appreciate something as simple and automatic as breathing. This experience has taught me a couple of things. 1. How much of a difference one change can make on a general and specific level, and 2. It really is hard to appreciate something unless you have experienced not having it.
You can also check out this video of Dr. Stacey and I speaking about gratitude.
So, how has it helped me to be grateful for my breathing?
Well, the times that I really need a deep breath are usually when I’m stressed or overwhelmed. Being thankful for breathing during those times helps to alleviate the constant overwhelm of the moment, and gives me a tiny, but much needed break in my thinking and awareness. And that’s the thing with gratitude (as with everything else), it isn’t all or nothing. Just because you feel upset with something in your life, doesn’t mean you can’t also feel grateful. And likewise, just because you feel grateful, doesn’t mean you also don’t have the right to complain and be upset at the same time. An all or nothing approach can keep us stuck, and create inner turmoil to which there sometimes doesn’t seem to be an end. By welcoming gratitude into our life, we can help balance our perspective, approach, and overall feelings, and increase our flexibility and resiliency.
Where to begin?
- Look no further than the present moment. Right here, right now, you can set an intention to be open to the experience of gratitude. This will mean taking specific notice when you feel grateful/appreciative/pleased with something, and taking a moment to acknowledge it and sit with it. In this way, practicing gratitude can fit into your life as it is right now, with an added bit of awareness and acknowledgment.
- Since balancing our thoughts and perspectives can take additional effort (at least at first), try to create some practical and concrete ways that you can incorporate gratitude into your life. Perhaps by starting a gratitude journal, where you can set up guidelines for the practice and keep track of it. For example, deciding to write 3 things at the end of each day that you were grateful for, or writing all the things that you noticed feeling grateful for. There are also journals you can buy that are specifically geared to tune your attention to appreciation and gratitude.
- Step outside of yourself and everyday life, even for a moment, and look at your life from a different perspective. We tend to get used to things when we experience them all the time, and of course this makes sense, but it can also desensitize us to the wonderful/interesting things that surround us as we go about our days. Tap into a beginners mind, meeting your experience with curiosity, and you might be surprised by the fresh/new perspectives you have on your regular routine.
- Give yourself lots of opportunities to practice gratitude. You can be grateful for any number of things: the people in your life, experiences, items, where you live, what you get to do, what you can do, to name just a few. Be flexible with the definition of gratitude, as there really is nothing too small or too big to be included in your list, and really take the time to explore your likes, interests, values, and passions.
