Habit #4 Self Care Challenge: Gratitude Practice Makes Perfect

Welcome back to Day 4 of the Self Care Challenge. Today we’re going to talk about a habit that is so powerful and yet sometimes it feels like it is the world’s best kept secret. This habit when practiced daily brings so much energy into your life that it feels like magic!?

This habit it called gratitude, and it's one of the most powerful emotions we can cultivate.? Below is the video and summary of the day's challenge.

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

“No duty is more urgent than giving thanks.” St. Ambrose

Do you ever feel stuck? Like you can't seem to move forward in life??

It's a common feeling that many of us experience at one point or another when we are not practicing good self care. But what if I told you that this simple ingredient can help you get unstuck?

When we practice gratitude, we focus on what we have, rather than what we lack.?

This can help us feel more content and satisfied with our lives.

Practicing gratitude can also help us feel more connected to the people around us. By expressing our gratitude to others, we can strengthen our relationships and feel more supported.

When we feel appreciated, we feel loved. It’s so simple and yet so important.

And when we practice mindfulness, we can appreciate the small things in life and feel more grateful for them.?

By focusing on the present moment, we can find joy in the simple things, like the taste of our food or the warmth of the sun on our face or how the grocery clerk gave us a sweet smile.

Another powerful way to cultivate gratitude is by helping others.?

When we see the impact we're making in someone else's life, it can help us feel more grateful for the blessings in our own lives.

And at the end of the day, taking a few minutes to reflect on what went well and what we're grateful for can help us end our day on a positive note.

When we're stuck, it's easy to feel like our lives lack purpose or direction.?

But by practicing gratitude, we can focus on the things that give our lives meaning, like our relationships, our passions, and our accomplishments.

But I know, personally, it’s not always easy.?

As I learned when studying The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, there are many ways to express gratitude in a way that lets you live in a mindset of gratitude. In that book, she provides a 28-day jump start to practicing. Making it a multi-time per day practice ingrains that into our soul.?

Like anything you want to do well, you must practice. Yoga? Running? Giving a speech?

Byrne suggests listing ten things each day for which you are grateful. I decided to do 100 days in a row. It’s been enlightening how much in my life I am grateful for and it’s easier to live in peace once that gratitude is held dearly.

I open my Notes app on my iPhone every morning while I drink my coffee. I label the post Gratitude Day 101 and begin my list.?

Each gratitude phrase should have three things;?

1. Who or what you are grateful for and?

2. Why you are grateful???

3. And then at the end of the list say Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

1. I am grateful for my parents' health because I need them in my life.

After I do this, I meditate on the ten things I’m grateful for and then I meditate with love for myself. I use a variety of guided meditations from different sources.?

From my book, The Swipe Right Effect, I have a free meditation on YouTube called See Yourself Growing. I hope you will check it out.

So that gratitude list worked for me, but I have 3 even easier gratitude habits that you can quickly pick up and use in your daily life.

The “trick” to having a satisfying life isn’t some magic, it’s consistency.?

The key is doing the gratitude practice day after day, even when you don’t see obvious results.?

You could say that gratitude isn’t built in a day. Gratitude is built daily.

The challenge today is to take one of these three gratitude practices and try to do it for 21 days. They don’t take time out of your day but they do make a significant contribution to your heart, soul and mind.

1. Gratitude wake up - Every morning when you wake up, when your first foot hits the floor, you say “thank” and when the second foot hits, you say “you.” This starts your day off with immediate positivity. You are thankful to be alive and you acknowledge as your feet hit the floor. What could be a better start to the day?
2. Gratitude dust - As you meet people throughout the day, pretend your thoughts, smile and actions are like sprinkling them with magic gratitude dust. The clerk at the store gets a big smile from you and say I appreciate your help. You wish your neighbor a great day and say so glad you are my neighbor. You send an email to your child’s teacher telling her something positive your child shared and she knows you think of her and appreciate her.
3. End of day gratitude practice - Stand in front of the mirror when you brush your teeth and list three things that happened today for which you are grateful. It can be a profitable business deal, the perfect song came on the radio and provided you a lovely memory, or your workout was amazing and you were full of energy all day.

The most important person to be grateful for is you. Once you start appreciating the person in the mirror, the more grateful you will be for your overall life. Those around you will feel the shift of positive energy emanating from you and guess what happens to the excess positive energy. It is magically transferred to those you love.

Right now, it’s your choice.

What do you want to change??

What do you want to be different a year or five years from now??

Whatever it is, it starts with being grateful consistently for what you already have.?

As the old Chinese Proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Daily habits of gratitude and appreciation are one of the highest emotional states you can experience. When you cultivate gratitude, you’re able to feel true joy and contentment, no matter what you have or don’t have in your life.

P.S. Are you getting close to burn out? If you are wondering about your own self care, I have created a Self Care Scorecard just for you! Give it a try and then schedule a call with me if you'd like to discuss some strategies for your own self care.