Gratitude, the Best Medicine
I know many of us got into gratitude journals back in 1997 when Oprah told us to. That’s about when I started dabbling in writing down, in list form, what I was feeling grateful for each day. I didn’t really put too much thought into it, and sometimes the things on my list felt frivolous. Like one time, I was living in Puerto Rico, and I remember I was really missing my friends and family. My mom reminded me of my gratitude journal, so that night I listed “my high heels for Salsa dancing.” Notice my gratitude wasn’t for my ability to dance—it was for the heels, lol. It’s true, though. I was really grateful for being able to go dancing in my heels, but honestly, at the time, I was just going through the motions of a gratitude list without really feeling it.
Nonetheless, it was one of those things that started out as something I was doing because “someone told me it was a good idea,” but I stuck with it long enough to learn that it really could create change within me.
Today, I can always find something to be grateful for. Sometimes, when we are down in the dumps, it’s hard to feel gratitude for all that we have—be it a home, food, shelter—the basics. So, we might have to start small, with something like a pair of heels, or a shower, or a smile from a neighbor. It’s okay to start really small and take baby steps. And it’s also okay to fake it until we make it. Often, those little steps build into big ones. That’s what the 1% rule is about—something my boxing coach taught me. All we have to do is try to be 1% better each day. Putting it that way sounds and feels manageable!
But more important to me than the act of writing down my gratitude list is really getting into the feeling of gratitude. I try to allow time for myself to feel the emotions that come with a deep love and gratitude for something. My experience with gratitude is that the more I feel it, the more it comes, and the more I have! Starting with something like a pet or a baby and imagining them in your mind’s eye—imagining you cuddling them—can begin to evoke feelings of love and gratitude. Once you get that down, you can begin to extend it to your family, yourself, and even material items you have. Like most things in life that create change, it’s practice and consistency that build up the muscle of gratitude.
What are you grateful for in life right now? The answers may come easily to you, or it may take a little digging to get there, and that’s totally okay too.
Today, I am feeling super grateful for the home I have created with and for myself and my two kids. Both the tangible and intangible parts of my home. That we have space, warm beds, food, and electricity. And that we have copious amounts of love and laughter—and, most importantly, serenity.