Posted by on November 24, 2016

The power of gratitude is beyond measure.

Truly, gratitude is the foundation of happiness.

Appreciation is magic.

And when we consciously choose to make giving thanks a daily practice, miracles abound.

We’ve all heard that gratitude is essential, that giving thanks is important, but how many of us actually integrate this simple yet profound practice into our daily life experience?

Wherever you are in your gratitude practice, I invite you to take it deeper.

If you start your day with thoughts of appreciation, I invite you to expand this into writing your thanks in a journal each day.

If you are already writing a gratitude journal, I invite you to share your gratitude with the people you love.

Find a way to begin or deepen your thanksgiving practice today and every day…

If you’ve unintentionally let this practice go recently, then forgive yourself and choose to reinvigorate your daily thanksgiving.

If you find a gratitude practice to be “cheesy and tedious” {as my pre~teen daughter currently describes writing a gratitude journal}, then create other ways to transform your mindset to focus on what you appreciate…maybe a practice of writing thank you notes to people you care about, maybe giving back in your community by volunteering consistenly, maybe expressing thank you more often out in the world as you interact with people wherever you go.

No matter what you do or how you do it, let giving thanks be an every day practice. And remember it’s a practice, not something that needs to be perfect.

As you give thanks, notice how your mindset transforms, how your default setting turns to appreciation rather than criticism or complaint.

This does not mean that an attitude of gratitude makes everything perfect in life.

We will still face challenge, we will still feel all the feelings of frustration or anger or despair that may be part of this human experience. The thing is, with an appreciative mindset, it becomes waaaaaay easier to shift back into loving kindness when we do get out of alignment.

When gratitude becomes a habit, we reclaim the power to see the opportunities in the challenge and to enjoy our lives, no matter what.

It’s been 10 months now that I’ve been writing my daily page of gratitude in my journal. Each and every line begins with thank you. I cannot express how completely this simple habit has activated such deep compassion, forgiveness, and kindness in me. Whole new levels of love and understanding have opened up with this conscious daily practice of giving thanks.

I wholeheartedly agree with the wise words of Rumi, “If you say only one prayer in a day, make it thank you.”

Let your thoughts be filled with thank you and you’ll always feel the abundance of being alive, the richness of living, and the joy of loving.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for reading these words.

Thank you for your love, kindness and appreciation in this world.

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