3 WAYS TO IMPLEMENT GRATITUDE INTO YOUR LIFE by Laura Wittig |
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It’s a simple concept we’re taught from a young age: to express our thanks and appreciation for the things, people, and experiences we’re grateful for. Science shows that integrating the practice of gratitude into our lives can improve physical and psychological health, enhance empathy and reduce aggression, improve sleep quality and even have a positive effect on self-esteem. |
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So why do we have such a hard time putting gratitude into action? Many of us have a tendency to expend more energy and give more attention to the bad, or unfortunate things that happen in our lives, rather than spend time being grateful for all the good. We become good at what we practice, so here are three ways to implement this powerful practice into your everyday life. 1. Start Small A common misconception is that gratitude is reserved for only the big, bold, and beautiful moments. The gifts, the milestones, events, and accomplishments. But this overlooks the many little things to be grateful for lives every single day. Expressing gratitude towards the small things, such as an unexpected day in nature, or a call or message from an old friend that made you smile – these are the moments that matter. Identify these moments in your day, of and then make sure people know how grateful you are for them. You will never regret telling somebody how nice they made you feel! Your gestures of gratitude don’t need to be grand either. A simple text or quick voice note to say “I am thankful for you” is enough. No card or gift required. |
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2. Self-gratitude Self-gratitude doesn’t make you self-absorbed. It makes you a happier and healthier human being. Having gratitude for ourselves and our bodies is arguably the MOST important thing we can do. Have you ever stopped to thank your body after being active? You should. Not everyone is so lucky to be able to move like you can. Have you ever focused on how nice a deep inhale and exhale feels? I challenge you to try it. Your body carries you through this hectic, messy, busy life and allows you these unique experiences. It’s a pretty big deal. Say thank you to YOU first. 3. Gratitude can come from the situations where we least expect it The rainbow after the storm may be a cliché example- but there is a lot of truth to it. We don’t learn unless things get a bit messy from time to time. Being able to identify and feel gratitude towards uncomfortable situations from which you’ve learnt and grown is HUGE. Being able to thank yourself and those around you for your own agility and ability to pivot to make it through challenges is key in maintaining positivity, and being able to propel forward and achieve your goals. Thank yourself for all those times that you have “failed better.” |
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Laura Wittig is the Co-Owner of The Prairie Collective, which creates spaces for humans to show up and be curious about themselves. Please visit them at: www.theprairiecollective.com to learn about their new digital memberspace. | | |
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GRATITUDE IS CREATIVE by Cassandra Rae |
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Have you ever heard the phrase ‘birds of a feather flock together’? It refers to the propensity for people of a similar manner, sense of humor, personality, or attitude to be drawn to one another. This tendency to coalesce, amplifies the energy of the individuals making it stronger together than any one of them was on their own. In short, there is a creative power that is generated by coming together. In the same way that people coming together can amplify energy, you too can generate a power of your choosing by consciously coming together with the quality you want to experience like love, connection, play, creativity, or abundance. One way you can join with a quality and bring it in your life is by being grateful for it before you actually experience it. |
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Now, this might sound odd to be grateful for something before you actually have it, but when you feel grateful for something, you are inviting it into your life. Take a moment to consider what you want to experience. Why do you want to experience it? Chances are, you know what it feels like and you want more of it. If you already had it in your life, how would you feel? Gratitude naturally bubbles up to the surface when we go from not having something to having it. So when we imagine it and feel grateful for it, we are joining with the energy of it and calling it into our life and experience. So if you want to tap into the creative power of gratitude, practice being grateful daily. At the end of the day, imagine the qualities you want to experience the next day. Maybe you want ease, harmony, peace, and play. Take a few minutes to write down examples of how they might show up in your life. For example, I’m grateful for cars that let me on the freeway with plenty of space. I’m grateful for respectful conversations that resolve conflict. I’m grateful to understand my partner better. I’m grateful for friends that want to get together and have fun. Let yourself dream and imagine because when you combine your imagination and desires with gratitude, it is surely only a matter of time before they start showing up in your life! |
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Cassandra Rae, Spiritual Director of CSL White Rock. Wherever you are on your journey - whether you're struggling or soaring - there's a place for you at CSL White Rock. Visit CSL White Rock to learn more about Cassandra and the centre. | | |
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IS GRATITUDE ENOUGH? by Jeff Brown |
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We’ve all heard the secret to happiness is gratitude. I love gratitude! Experts tell us to keep gratitude journals, and spend time each day reflecting on at least 3 things you are grateful for. But what if your gratitude work is like trying to dilute the salty ocean by adding buckets of fresh water? I'm here to tell you that your efforts are never going to get you to the deep levels of happiness that the experts are talking about. |
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This is a big bold statement, so how can I be so confident taking this position? Because I am like a human guinea pig in the test laboratory of life and my experiences have taught me some important and sometimes painful lessons. Surprisingly, I discovered my lifestyle was actually taking me further and further away from the fulfillment I really wanted. I had a lifestyle many would think is awesome but it turned out not to be. This discovery for me took many years, and now my esteemed colleague Lynn Sumida and I have been diving deeply into the formula that creates real fulfillment and lasting joy. We’ve been unearthing core elements and the missing pieces in this equation. But before we get into what Lynn and I have learned, let’s start with the bigger picture to get the proper context on this topic. In North America, we have a lifestyle and an economy that runs on consumerism. Consumerism is defined as a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. Governments measure how well the country is doing financially by its Gross Domestic Product -GDP. An economy that runs on consumerism means the majority of the GDP is created by citizens (consumers) continually spending money on goods and services in order to drive the country's economic engine. In Canada, consumer spending accounts for nearly 57% of GDP. Our government and corporations need the citizens, you and me, to keep spending money, otherwise, the system will collapse. (We can see the need for consumerism, at a global level. as an example, the coronavirus is stopping production, creating uncertainty and interfering with people's spending patterns, causing major disruptions on the world economic stage). What does this have to with gratitude and fulfillment? I believe most people’s sense of fulfillment is impacted profoundly by the world they live in. We are inundated with manipulative advertisements and rhetoric designed to make you think you’re lacking something. You are sold a “story” – “To be happy, feel good about yourself and fit with the “cool crowd” you need more new stuff”. This marketing strategy targets two fundamental human fears: “Will I fit in?" and “Am I good enough?”. This marketing promotes the belief that something outside of you is needed for you to feel better or be better. Once you get lost in this story you develop unconscious behaviours to feel okay and “become good enough”. All of this drives a cycle of consumption that has people buying far more than they need. This compulsive consumption cycle reinforces feelings of anxiety, dissatisfaction, isolation, comparison, and lack, all of which exacerbate the issue. I could have been a “poster child” for all of this. Most of my life I’ve been chasing and striving to get “more”. My chasing was fueled by a strong desire for financial success. Because of this I’ve enjoyed many monetary achievements and been able to explore over 40 countries around the world. As I look back, I remember people regularly saying to me “I wish I had your life.” I get it, from the outside my life looked fantastic, money was always flowing my way, I was adventure traveling to the hottest spots around the globe, going to all the fancy restaurants, clubs, and hotels. My life was straight out of the movies. When I was fully in the fast-paced, big-money lifestyle, I believed I was happy. What could be better, right? Before I dig into the downsides that come with that lifestyle, I want to acknowledge that you might be thinking “Ya, that’s easy for you to say, you’ve already experienced all of that. Let me have those experiences and then I’ll decide.” I thought the same thing in my past but If you were thinking something like that, I invite you to pause for a minute to look at your thoughts and where they were coming from? Did your thoughts come from a place of “I wish I had that”, a sense of longing that suggests you are lacking something external that would bring you happiness? In a nutshell, the biggest downside to the fast and exorbitant lifestyle I lived, was “the endless need for more external “things”. My fast-paced lifestyle had me mindlessly using up money, carelessly wasting relationships and simply unconsciously devouring time (the most valuable resource we have in life). I was a consumption monster buzzing ahead with a narrow-minded focus on gobbling up more and needing the newest and next best thing. In hindsight, I recognize my lifestyle and the behaviours aligned with the saying “been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.”. Although from the outside it seemed I was living a life that many people would desire, in reality, I was just checking off boxes on my mental list of “things I must see and do”. My noisy lifestyle of speeding through experiences, wanting to do as much as I could, didn’t leave enough time to stop and truly digest my moments, to be fully present with my experiences. Without slowing down and doing less, my capacity to appreciate had become extremely limited. While I was in this compulsive consumption lifestyle, appreciation and fulfillment could only be experienced in short bursts of happiness that quickly faded and were easily forgotten. In my journey out of this, I’ve searched for anything that could bring me happiness in a different way. Of course, I knew about gratitude, and I was grateful. I knew I had it “good” by many people’s standards. But gratitude didn’t really penetrate deeply enough for me. You could say that was just my experience, or you could read on as I share what I discovered about gratitude and appreciation. READ MORE >>> |
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Jeff Brown is mindset coach who works with men. His online programs deal directly with the 3 of these steps, as well as other important tools for developing personal success. He has dedicated his life to helping people find greater fulfilment, lasting joy and freedom. Visit www.reconstructingyourlife.com to learn more about Jeff and what he does. | | |
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GIVE THANKS FOR THE TOUGH STUFF by David Fyfe |
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I hear and see a lot about the “power of gratitude” these days as we collectively embark on our many varied paths toward a more spiritual daily practice. When I think of what I am grateful for, I often think of things such as my physical health, my family, my friends, my profession. I may even drill down into being more specific, grateful for my loving wife, great friends that are partners in growth, my successful business that allows me a level of independence, the health of my kids and grand kids. What I struggle with, but I simultaneously see as much more important is being grateful for the tough stuff that has and will continue to come up in my daily life! |
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“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carriers with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit” – Napoleon Hill When I think of some significant events in my life that did not go my way (to say the least) I most definitely was not feeling grateful for these “gifts” when they occurred. Looking back now I see them as a crossroads. Down one road is being disappointed in myself, various people, my situation and how unfair life can be, I feel stuck (and a victim)! Down the other road (the one less traveled) is this is happening for a reason, accept it as a gift to dig deep, get creative and resourceful, a massive opportunity for growth, I feel set free (I am empowered)! Steve Jobs – leaves (some say fired) from his own company, but then forms PIXAR and NEXT computers, and then exactly 12 years later comes back to Apple and helped make it the largest company in the world today. J.K. Rowling – Nearly homeless, the first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before someone decided to take a chance on it. She has now sold over 500 million books worldwide and became the first billion author! Michael Jordan – As a high school sophomore, Jordan was cut from the varsity basketball team. He took it as an opportunity to practice harder to make the team the following year. He is now considered by many to be the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. |
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Oprah Winfrey – Grew up poor, raised by a single mom, raped at 9 and was pregnant at 14 (lost her son in infancy) and is now considered the most influential woman in the world today. Walt Disney – fired in his 20’s from a newspaper because his boss thought he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas” The Walt Disney company is now the largest media company in the world and employees over 200,000 people! I don’t think any of use can imagine a world without Disney! Our greatest adversity is so often our greatest gift to the world, the tricky part is to see it as the blessing it truly is! It often feels crappy at the time it is happening, but imagine any of the people I have listed giving up with things got tough, the world would be a very different place if they had not doubled down their efforts and found a way through their various and often seemingly insurmountable challenges. It seems somewhat easy looking at them to draw a line from their adversities to the gifts they gave this world! As it holds true for them, it also holds true for all of us, tough times are a gift, embrace them, be grateful for them, see them as the game changers they truly are! We are these incredible problem solving machines and it is the “tough times” that flick the switch to mobilize the massive resources at our disposal, so I say BRING ON THE TOUGH STUFF and let’s open our eye WIDE to the opportunities at hand! |
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Dave Fyfe is a sales/marketing/business start up consultant and trainer at HopefulBuilder. They specialize in helping launch new businesses and empower them with the tools they need to succeed. Visit www.hopefulbuilder.com to learn more about their work. | | |
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