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I didn’t really get the whole gratitude thing.
I first heard about keeping a gratitude journal in august of 2016.
it raises your frequency, they said. connects you to the universe.
I had just started diving into the “personal development” world, and was still at a point in my journey that I rolled my eyes at anything that sounded “woo-woo”. however, even with all of my defense mechanisms and eye rolling, I was also desperate. I was incredibly unhappy and looking for pretty much anything that would bring me joy, confidence and self love.
so I started this gratitude journal, and it was… fine. but sooner or later it was more of checking a “to do” off a list, than an actual practice.
one day, quite recently, it just hit me.
I was just listing things I was grateful for, and that was all good and well, but what really changed the game for me was to ask myself- “why?”
because why helps me really feel the gratitude.
“I am grateful for my husband.”
ok, but why?
is it simply because you feel at home in his presence?
is it gratitude for his very existence?
that his passionate, kind, intoxicating soul even happened to cross your path?
is it because the truth in you recognizes the truth in him?
or is it because you can show him the deepest darkest scariest corners of your soul and have complete and utter faith that he will still swaddle wrap you in his love so tight that even a sliver of fear or doubt or worry would be able to slither its way into your head?
“I am grateful for my pets.”
ok, but why?
is it because of the way your dogs dance around your feet when you return home?
tails wild, eyes wide and staring up at you with more excitement than you’ve even felt in weeks.
for you. they love you that much.
or is it the cold nose against your arm as his head falls? you know, those times when he gives in to his tired eyes he’s desperately tried to keep open for the last hour
just to make sure you were safe?
are you grateful for those moments when your cat curls up on your pillow at night, snuggling with the warmth your head provides?
for when they knead against your stomach?
or press their nose to you, this fiercely independent animal, thanking you for being here.
“I am grateful for my home and the life we live.”
ok, but why?
is it because most days you get to wake up in the morning to a place you’re still getting to know, drink your coffee listening the the birds, and basking in the warmth of the sun? is it gratitude for the ability to go on epic adventures all across the country and then return to your little home on wheels, caked in dirt and sweat and cook a meal for the one you love?
that you get to laugh together until the sun turns red through the windows, and you make your way to the roof to sip wine and watch the sun slip below the horizon?
“I’m grateful for nature”
ok, but why?
are you grateful for the peace that fills your soul as you watch the last few rays of sunlight slip below the horizon?
or for the stillness in the air as the night melts away and the air fills with birds singing as dawn arrives?
is it because you can stand at the base of a tree that has stood for thousands of years and recognize your essence within it, because you are forged from the same light, come from the same beginning, are filled with the same love.
gratitude is powerful.
but it’s a feeling.
an energy.
not just a sentence with something important written after it.
so I ask you friend, to scribble it down in a journal, share in a comment or to just sit in silence and feel it.
what/who are you grateful for?
and most importantly, why?
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