BernetteHow I Chose Gratitude (And So Can You!)
Happy Thanksgiving! I wrote this blog prior to Thanksgiving, because, ummmm family. Right? I knew I wanted to talk about gratitude and share something that might be fun and helpful for you and your family today. This is gonna be short so you can get back to what’s important. Food. Fun. Family.
We’ll be hanging out with my cousin’s family for Thanksgiving and so far I’m down for making the mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. I’m sure more will get added between now and then. We’re gonna go to town since my cousin (cousin’s wife) is Dominican and cooks everything with love. Can you tell I’m already looking forward to the feast? And I’m grateful to be able to share Thanksgiving with my children, husband and cousins.
Speaking of gratitude, and this start of the holiday season which goes through Epiphany of January 6. How about trying out an extra dose of it? Do you already keep a gratitude journal or practice saying what your grateful and thankful for? If not, this is a great time to practice it either for yourself or with your family.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
I will admit that on more than one occasion I’ve started and stopped after a few days. Don’t look at me like that. I know someone else has been there too. You have the best of intentions of starting this habit and then one morning you’re rushing and don’t do it and then there’s a night where you get to bed late and next thing you know – the habit is dead before it had life.
But something different happened this fall. Can I just say God has been moving hard this fall. In September I started writing down things I was grateful for and then I’d sometimes write a few goals and an affirmation. It’s transformed a bit where I’m not doing goals because I wasn’t going back there to track them and Spirit was working so fast!
Six Weeks In – Notebook Time!
After about 6 weeks on the phone I got a notebook to write my experience with this idea of doing this spiritual practice that included eating no meat, self-clearing and self-care with regular epsom salt baths or foot baths, weekly anointing and re-anointing myself with oil, and a much longer prayer regimen and home clearing. For the first 2 weeks it was candy and sweets free too.
Breakthroughs and God Showing Up
I expected that I’d have a breakthrough during this time because Spirit said that if I did what was asked, God would direct my steps clearly. And wow! I honestly misunderstood one of the first signs when I was picked for Grand Jury duty even after telling them I was a medium and psychic. And then I pulled some oracle cards and got the ‘home’ card. I knew I wanted to help people in a way that got behind the surface. I was and am devouring books right now (audio) and studying and it’s crazy how magical it’s all been.
Gratitude Changes Things, You
Gratitude changes things because what we give our attention to we get more of. If we start paying attention to even the small things in our life that we can be grateful for we’ll get more that we can be grateful for. In my “gratitudes” I include something about my husband, daughter, and son that I’m grateful for – EVERY NIGHT. Why? So that I continue to have more and more to be grateful for and it’s a charm how it works.
I also put things in there about being grateful for the clients I get to serve, about the abundance in my life, and about my overall happiness with my life. There is always something to be grateful for. Hey…even it if it’s that your shoes stayed tied or that the toast came out edible, or you made it to carpool on time without speeding.
I mean seriously, there is so much you can choose to be grateful for. At the end of the day you get to make that choice and when you start practicing this regularly you’ll probably find something else happening. You’ll start looking for things you can be grateful for and include in your ‘gratitudes” when it’s time to write them down. That means your mind is going to be in gratitude mode more often and you are just revving up that engine of attracting great things into your life.
I’m telling you, it’s awesome. Maybe you don’t want to do this for 2 months or even one month, but what if you did try it for one month. How about until Christmas? You don’t have to stress out about it either. Some folks feel the need to write like fifty things and I’m suggesting you just start with a few. If you can’t think of but one, write down that one. If you find them jumping out of your head and onto the paper, write them all down. Write what you have but take a moment to go deeper and see if there is just one more thing you might be grateful for.
My First Day of Writing “Gratitudes”
Oh here’s what I typed up (minus the personal personal stuff) on my very first day.
September 14, 2021
Gratitude
- I am grateful for my loving husband. He is a(n) smart, makes me laugh and smile, is a great dad, thoughtful and a wonderful provider.
- I am grateful for Ken Davenport taking time to watch some of my play and that he may watch more.
- I am grateful for new follow(ers) on Instagram and Tiktok
- I am grateful for my son trying to shift his attitude. I see it.
- I am grateful my daughter is finding her way and most importantly learning herself
- I am grateful for every person who took time to watch my play
- I am grateful I can move like I do
- I am grateful that I feel and look more fit than I did when summer started
- I am grateful for all the options and for all the opportunities that come my way
It’s not that hard to do once you start. One thought of gratitude leads to another. I hope you’ll try and encourage your partner or children to try it as well. Maybe they don’t do it daily, but perhaps they can try it a couple days a week? If they aren’t up for writing it down, try sharing something every person is grateful for over dinner.
Let me know how it goes after Christmas. What do you notice?
