#gratefullife

Like I said above, I often use the word gratitude, and write my lists into my journal, particularly when I’m in a sad place and need a boost. This in itself is a really helpful practice that I used to pull myself out of dark places. 

However, I noticed a few days ago, that I turn to my wellness practices and methods more often when I am going through a rough patch that when I am in a happy place. While I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with doing this, I think it’s an interesting thing to notice about myself, as I am often more focused on achieving the emotion of happiness and the feeling of wellness than I am on maintaining it. 

As I move through life, I understand more and more about myself, and I don’t think I’m alone in this motif. One thing I promised myself this year, was that I would create a routine that I can sustainably maintain to focus on my health, both physical and mental. I definitely have been more on that path recently, and have been building healthier habits over time, so I can recognise that figuring out these little toxic habits aren’t the root of all evil in my life, but they aren’t helping me move away from it either. 

The practice of pulling myself out of negative states of mind or feelings of being in a rut is an art that I have been perfecting for many years. As a self confessed perfectionist, I often focus on the details of every thing I do, often forgetting to look at either the bigger picture, the steps I have achieved previously, or the culmination of both these things. Sometimes I forget that I have achieved amazing things, especially when I’m bogged down in something that I feel I’m not doing well enough. Over the years I have had to actively teach myself that these thoughts are not helping anyone or making me feel good at all, and I have found methods in moving away from them into a more positive state. 

This is when I began writing my gratitude lists. They aren’t always called ‘gratitude lists’, sometimes I head them as ‘things I like about myself’, or ‘compliments that really touched my heart’, or ‘what have I done well this week?’

These lists are such a great helper in so many ways, and almost always instantly improve my mood and trains of thought. It’s my own little version of reprogramming my brain (and by ‘my own little version’ I don’t mean that I made this method up, I just mean that it works for me, A LOT). 

With that being said, I don’t often find myself doing this when I am happy - which arguably, is when the best lists could be formulated. This is a practice I really would like to add back into my day, even when I’m having the best day ever. 

There is so much material already out there on the power gratitude has over manifesting new goals and creating a more positive life, and I believe that research 100%. I think it’s a natural human behaviour to not take as much notice of when something is going great, just like we take to heart criticism more than compliments. I actively want to reject my negative thought processes (when necessary), and fill that empty space with gratitude. How will I do that? I’m not sure, but I think the first step to any successful experiment is practice - practice makes perfect. 

So today, as I am having an excellent day, I am making a gratitude list for all of you to read (If you’ve made it this far down the blog). 

Today I am grateful for  1. My dog  2. The feeling of fresh air on your face when you’re hungover.  3. Good food and access to clean drinking water.  4. Good books and greater storytellers.  5. Cloud formations.  6. The sound of rain  7. FaceTime and its ability to link up my family even when we are all far from home.  8. Music.  9. Pens that feel like they’re gliding when you’re writing.  10. Bird sounds. 

Tell me three things that you are grateful for right now in the comments, and I’ll see you next week. 

Thank you for taking a few moments out of your day to read this.