How to practice gratitude
“Be obsessively grateful”
I read this quote a while ago and it really stuck with me. During the first weeks of my eating disorder recovery, I spent lots and lots of time journaling. Working with my health coach held me accountable in starting a gratitude journal. Every morning, I would write down 3 things I am grateful for. At the beginning, I was pretty skeptical and wasn’t sure what to make of it. It sounded woo-woo to me to write down things I want to celebrate about my life.
I felt so down in the dumps. What is there to celebrate? I wasn’t working at the time, I was far away from my family and friends. Having just moved to Canada for good I felt lonely and lost. But I gave it a go anyways.
It’s the simple things in life
All I can say is that for me, it changed everything. I can’t remember the first day, but I think I wrote down something like this:
What am I grateful for?
- My husband for supporting me in every way he can
- My dog for being my best Canadian friend
- Having a roof over my head
Super basic. The next day, I had to reflect and think of 3 other things that I am grateful for. It got easier every single day, and some days I would write down the simplest things. For example, “I am grateful that I can afford to buy the organic steel cut oats that I like, instead of having to choose the cheap version”. Other days it was deeper things that I was grateful for deep down in my heart. Like my ability to be a good and empathetic listener and help other people.
A few weeks in, I noticed a shift in my mindset. I felt that I had so much abundance in my life and my outlook on the future shifted from fear into excitement. Over time, the doubts about the effectiveness of practicing gratitude disappeared.
Gratitude is taking responsibility for your life
I felt like I slowly took back my power and I felt that I was responsible for creating a life that I love. Everything I need is already in it, I just have to take action.
Being grateful for little and big things in your life creates new opportunities, you will start to attract different people and situations that are working for you instead of against you.
Fast forward a few months, I took a leap of faith, decided to teach fitness classes and clients full time and start a blog to share my story. And what can I say, new opportunities arise every single day, I am busy loving what I do and I have so much going for me that excites me. It all started, because I practiced being grateful.
I hope you will give it a try.