10 Things To Be Grateful For!

Prefer to read? Here’s a transcription of the video:

I want to talk to you today about 10 things you can be grateful for.

Now, gratitude is a doorway to a more expansive experience; a more blissful experience; a more connected experience. And so we want to do the exercise on the doorway, which is the practice of gratitude. But where we really want to go to is the result of that. And that’s a shift into a more loving, connected, blissful, peaceful, excited, positive state of mind and being.

So the way to realize that you’re shifting and support your shifting is to pay attention to shifts in three areas.

One is in your bodily sensations. Can you feel a shift, maybe an opening of your heart or energy starting to flow or warmth in your belly. Something–can be anywhere in your body, but a shift in your bodily sensations is what you want to pay attention to.

The second area that you want to pay attention to, our shifts in your emotional state. Are your emotions, more loving, more caring towards yourself or towards others. Are you more happy as you’re going through the practice of gratitude?

And then the third area is shifts in your thought pattern. Are you thinking more positive life affirming thoughts about yourself, the world, others, your environment, people in your life?

So you see, you become the measuring tool to see if there are any shifts. And the destination is the blissful openness, expansive connection, love.

That’s the destination.

And gratitude is the exercise–is the doorway that’s going to take you there.

So let’s begin.

Number one, your health. What are you grateful for and what do you appreciate about your health, about your body? Well, we may focus on the negative. The one thing that’s not working, whether it’s a situational ailment or a chronic one. So much is functioning in your body. So much is healthy. So try to list what is functioning and what is working and what is keeping you alive and thriving. And you can start with just one thing, but if you want to keep going, just go for three, four, five, 10 however many you want. But for the exercise, for the purpose of this exercise, you can just pick one thing that is working.

And then say in your heart, I am grateful for the breath that comes in and goes out that is sustaining me. Or I’m grateful for my muscles who are working and doing what they’re supposed to be doing; moving me around, transporting me. Whatever it is, take a moment and appreciate that part of your body and off your health that is functioning and thriving and supporting your aliveness.

Number number two, your work. Think for a moment, what are you grateful for when it comes to your work can be a talent or capacity or gift that you have that you bring to your work environment. It can be the actual work you’re doing or the work environment or your colleagues. Something that you appreciate about your work and here too, once you have thought about it, take a moment to appreciate it. Say thank you in your heart or out loud because it’s in the saying, it’s kind of like an affirmation. As you’re saying, I am grateful for my capacity to, or my talent to or my colleagues or what I love about my work, you are shifting your state of mind and being which is affecting your bodily sensations, your emotional state, and your thoughts.

Number three, your financial situation. What are you appreciative about your financial situation?

Now we all want more, we want more resources, we want to do more. We all have dreams, but what do you already have? How much abundance do you already have when it comes to your financial situation?

There’s always something to be grateful for. And so take a moment, think about that one thing. You can always go for more if you are inspired for a longer list, but for the purpose of this exercise, just pick one thing that you are truly grateful for when it comes to your financial situation.

And then take a moment to appreciate it and just repeat again and again: I’m so appreciative for this thing when it comes to my financial situation. I am so grateful for this. It brings me so much joy and so much happiness that I have the capacity to do this or to have this or to give this because of my financial situation.

Number four, your home. Your home is your base and so it’s a really important place to be grateful for and to appreciate.

And so you can walk through the rooms of your house and just look around and see all the things that are there that are yours that you’ve gathered over the years. Again, you can focus on the mess or what you need to do that you haven’t done yet, but I want you to focus about what is there that is you, that is at the essence of who you are that is in your house, in your home environment as well. And you could just go through each room and look at what you appreciate about this room and then say, I appreciate, I appreciate this about my room.

I appreciate this object or this furniture or this experience that I get to have in this room. And go like this from room to room. And just say thank you for it.

I promise you, you will have such a shift in your being. You will really experience gratitude. You will experience appreciation. It won’t just be another gratitude list. It will be the experience of it and a doorway to just have this blissful experience of expansive love, appreciation and gratitude.

Number five, friendships. We all have people in our lives who are significant to us. They serve a certain role or they allow us to have to have certain experiences or certain connections and so you can pick one person, a dear friend. They can be someone that’s currently in your life or somebody who lives far away or someone you know for many, many years and you don’t talk to them that often, but you’re so appreciative of having them in your life.

And so think of that person and what do you appreciate about them? Why are you grateful for having them in your life and then tell them in your heart, I am so grateful to have you in my life because… I’m so appreciative of your presence in my life because… This is what you bring me. This is what you add to my life.

If you say all of these to yourself and you can always call them up or face to face, tell them and you’ll see how they will just light up. They’ll feel significant. They’ll feel loved and cared for, but you could just keep it for yourself. And so just have this experience of appreciating a friendship that you have.

Number six parents. Now, many times we have a very kind of mixed relationship with our parents. We try to individuate when we’re younger and separate. And then sometimes we find it hard to see what’s wonderful about them.

But with all the difficulties that you might have with your parents, and I speak from experience, there’s something at the essence of who they are that they passed onto you. That is who you are. You have that part in you. So you might not like what they’ve done with this quality or that capacity, but you were still given that gift from them that you do in your own way.

So think of something that you’re grateful for when it comes to your parent. And then tell yourself in your heart, and you can always do it in person to them what you appreciate about them, that they’ve given you as a gift, as a gift of life. Just that. The gift of life is one thing that you can be thankful for.

So again, the practice of appreciation and just feel it. And note, are there any shifts in your bodily sensations, in your emotional state, in your thought patterns?

I mean, just from going through this list, I’m feeling shifts as I’m going through and giving you all these examples. I’m beginning to feel this shift of expansiveness. So when you actually pick a specific item for each one of these areas in your life, you’re going to feel a lot of expansion and a lot of blissful, loving feelings and sensations in your body.

Number seven children or a pet. So if you have a child many times that’s easy. What are you grateful about having been a parent or being a parent? What do you love about your children? One thing. If you don’t have children, but you have children in your life, then pick a child that you visit or have a connection with and what do you love and appreciate about them? What do they give you and bring to your life?

And another choice is a pet. Before I had children, I had a cat. I had a siamese cat and I just felt like that was the closest I had to a child. And I learned so much from that pet. And so a pet is a wonderful companion, a loving companion. So what do you appreciate about the pet that you have?

What does it bring you? What does it offer you in your life?

And so again, say what it does. Appreciate it. Say thank you for it. Be grateful for it. Have the experience of gratitude and appreciation.

Number eight, community. Now, whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, you probably have some community, whether it’s in person or online that you’re part of. Could be a Facebook group. It can be a book club. Anything online or in person and women’s group and men’s group, some kind of associations, certain meetups, professional meetups.

What are you grateful about the different communities or the one community that you are part of? What do you love about it? What do you appreciate about it? Say it out loud. Say thank you and just experience this expansive shift in you.

Number nine, the place where you live. The town, the city, the country. You live in a location, you’re part of a larger web that is the street, the area, the region, the city, the country. Pick one of those and think to yourself, what am I appreciative around this? What am I appreciative about my country or my town or the region where I live and say a blessing.

Say thank you to the region, to the city. What you love about the city or the small town or the country. It grows your love. You realize, well, I’m here for a purpose. I love my country or I love my town because of, so take that moment and appreciate where you live.

And finally, number 10, nature. Nature is all around us. This whole planet is one big planet of nature and we, humanity, are part, an extension, of nature. We are part of nature and so nature has this capacity to expand our experience, expand our consciousness. Right? There is the beauty of nature, the grand juror of nature, the force of nature, the peaceful of nature, all of these qualities. When we spend time in nature, we tap into them and so many more.

And so what do you appreciate about nature? Send nature some love. So it could be where you live, it can be a trip that you had when you were in nature. It can be a plant that you have in your living room that you love and that you care for. But make a connection with nature locally or globally. Ask yourself, what do I appreciate about it? And then take a moment to send some love to the nature that you’ve connected with and just notice.

Have you shifted? How have you shifted? How has your being shifted? Do you feel different than when you began this exercise?

So enjoy being grateful. Enjoy experiencing the gifts and the miracles that come when you appreciate yourself and the world that you live in.

Blessings.