And Speaking Of... Gratitude Changes Everything, and Everything Can Change with Gratitude

I feel deeply blessed to work in what I consider the best industry in the world: travel. Travel is powerful; it changes lives and makes a meaningful impact locally and globally. I do my best to focus on the role our work at Gifted Travel Network plays in the lives of our advisors, their clients, our preferred partners, and our incredible team, primarily based in Mooresville, NC.

It's quite easy to get caught up in the day-to-day execution of our work and lose sight of the big picture and what really matters in our role. When I start feeling triggered, overwhelmed, or overstimulated, anchoring in on gratitude is a helpful way to recalibrate my mindset.

Gratitude can quickly change my perspective on any situation, and when my focus shifts from frustration to gratitude, tension leaves my body, and I judge less and empathize more.

While I am not perfect, I do genuinely go out of my way to express gratitude in personal and professional scenarios and instill a gratitude mindset in my children. I believe that gratitude creates more abundance and opportunities to be grateful for because, as I have expressed in previous articles, what you focus on expands.

Adopting gratitude as an attitude means that you live your life in joy and not fear or scarcity. I believe there is always something or someone to be grateful for, even when things do not seem to be working out the way you planned. Gratitude offers a lens on the world that focuses on positivity.

Seeing the world this way beats relying solely on the news cycle and social media feeds, which can be overwhelming and repetitive. Gratitude is a choice we make, and we can either choose to see the world through a grateful heart or not.

The key to allowing positive moments for which you are genuinely grateful is to let go of the expectation of how others will receive your energy. Expecting gratitude and putting rules around how others should express their appreciation for you is scorekeeping and can lead to resentment and frustration.

Whenever I start to feel frustrated about a scenario, I ask myself if I am creating expectations that are not being met and what would happen if I let go of my expectations and decided not to allow other people's actions or inactions to impact my energy. This is easier said than done and a work in progress for me almost daily. I take comfort in my self-awareness, and even writing about this topic allows me to shift from frustration to gratitude.

The shadow side of leaning into gratitude is that we can consciously or subconsciously create expectations of others on how we want them to react to something we may have done for them or supported them on. I love opening doors and connecting opportunities for others to thrive and grow, and I don't need validation from those on the receiving end to acknowledge my work.

Yet, sometimes, I find myself needing that validation, and when I go down that slippery slope, I do my best to pull myself out of that negative thought pattern and remind myself that I don't give to get.

But I am human (last time I checked!), I do slip up and try my best to reframe and refocus my mindset because only I have the ability to shift, and I must take responsibility for how I am feeling.

Gratitude is a powerful tool that can change everything. Find opportunities in your day to stop and be thankful for what you have and embrace the opportunity shift if you find yourself scorekeeping and creating unmet expectations. Give to others because it feels good to give, and don't create scenarios that require you to always expect gratitude back from others.

Gratitude is personal, and we all express our gratitude differently, so honor the journey for others and focus on how gratitude feels to you because only you can change how you show up, which is about all you can control in the end.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on my topic this week. Please take a moment to visit my post on LinkedIn to share your comments. Let’s keep the gratitude conversation going!