A Simple Gratitude Practice With the Power to Change Your Life

Gratitude is powerful. Powerful enough to stir our dreams out of the dormancy of thinking about it and into the reality of full-blown manifestation. How?

Before I tell you about that, let me share with you a slice of life from my past. Years ago, I read a most meaningful book, even life-changing. The title of the book is Simple Abundance (Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy) and it offered this daily practice: sit down at the end of each day and write in a gratitude journal 5 things you’re grateful for.

Life Back Then

When I first read it, I judged it as one of those things that seems too simple to have any lasting benefit. (That was before I knew the nature of truth, which is simplicity–beware of people with complicated stories.)

At the time, I was a single mom of two kids, driving a ‘car’ that was subject to go dead on any given corner. Trying to keep a roof over our heads and groceries in the fridge was a major challenge that oftentimes required courage and ingenuity. Life was hairy. When I look back, I shake my head and shudder.

Anyway, I was desperate for relief, so I tried it (it’s amazing what humans will try upon reaching the end of the proverbial rope). At that point, I didn’t need proof that a strategy was effective, I was willing to try anything that would edge me a few notches higher on the ladder of better living for me and my kids. The quicker, the better.

Thank God A Solution Comes Along

I found a little black notebook and started writing. The first night it was easy to write 5 things I was grateful for, hey, I had two kids. Only 3 more things to write about. It was a breeze. How is this possibly going to change my life?

The first few days were the same. No difference, no change in my life, nothing. I was looking for results, and quick results at that (never mind that it took years for my life to spiral downward to the point where it was, and it probably wasn’t going to turn perfect instantly). This gratitude journal crap is not working!

But I kept at it. Somewhere after about 20 or so days, things started to shift. I became more conscious about what I focused on during the day, keeping an eagle eye for things to be grateful for. Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe there’s something to this gratitude journal thing…we’ll see…

I kept writing.

Each day, I looked for more and more things to write in my gratitude journal. I became hyper aware; aware of the kind smile on the gentleman’s face who held the door for me, aware of my son picking up after himself with no prodding, aware of the perfect timing of the help offered by my office mate.

Each night, more and more poured forth onto the page that I was grateful for. Yeah, my life is changing alright…I’m hooked on gratitude!

That was when I came to realize the power of gratitude and the radical shift in psyche it both creates and requires. A grateful person is focused on good, prosperity, joyful happenings, the good deeds of self and others. I literally became a gratitude junkie, looking for the next experience that would propel me into the higher consciousness of gratitude. I wasn’t thinking about bills and problems 24/7 anymore. Without focused attention, they began to shrink. My increased attention on things to be grateful for kept me busy looking for more good. I was beginning to feel really good again, even ecstatic at times.

Then another magical thing happened (yeah, I would call this magical). I discovered that I don’t have to look for things to be grateful for. I didn’t have to chase experiences. I could simply ‘be’ grateful. This was yet another rung on the ladder of ascending consciousness. I could still be grateful even if I went nowhere, saw no one, did nothing. Gratefulness isn’t something I do, it’s who I am.

After that shift, my gratitude became an inner fountain, flowing always and continually, without needing outer experiences to sustain the flow.

I became a grateful person, which is very different from trying to be grateful.

The former is about ‘being’. The latter is about doing.

The former is inner focused. The latter is outwardly focused.

Mind you, I had to grow through the process, so I’m grateful for the whole journey. I had to ‘do’ gratitude before I could learn how to ‘be’ gratitude. It may not be every person’s journey, but it was mine, and I love and accept all of it.

A Charge To You

Try it. Where ever you are on the ladder of ascending consciousness, you can climb higher. Our potential for growth, expansion and transformation is infinite. Try the gratitude journal idea and see what happens. Try it for 40 days. It takes at least 21 daily repeats of a particular action for it to form a new groove in the brain and become habitual (whether we want the new habit or not).

The journal doesn’t have to be fancy, any notebook will do. If you don’t have a journal or notebook, do the exercise mentally.

Each night, before falling off to sleep (which is one of the most powerfully suggestive times for the subconscious mind) take several minutes to mentally review anything that occurred in your day for which you are grateful. No gesture is too small, no cause too slight. Write down everything you’re grateful for. The idea is to record 5 or more things/people/places/events you’re deeply grateful for.

It may not sound like a big deal, but I guarantee it will get results.

How does ‘being’ gratitude relate to manifesting your dreams as I stated in the beginning? Because being grateful gives a T.U.G. (Thank U God) to your dreams, ideals and aspirations (which are in the invisible realm of thought), gently drawing them into the physical realm of manifestation. You can thank your way to the realization of your goals and highest dreams. Give thanks as if you already have them. Rejoice ridiculously. Genuinely appreciate every dream, every idea, every aspiration. As you do, you’ll draw into your world all you desire, focus upon and give thanks for.

Try it and let me know what happens…

Gratefully yours,
Valerie Love