After every big event or trip, Brian & I take the week afterwards to rest, re-coup, re-focus & reflect with massive gratitude. We spend time together doing things we enjoy: family night with our adult children, date night, euchre, swimming & relaxing. We also take time discussing our goals & where we are going, along with things that worked at the event & things we can do to improve the next event. It is a ritual.
We have learned to take the time to rest & reflect. I really believe we as a people tend to skip those moments of gratitude. Oh my goodness, we have to learn to enjoy the journey & step into gratitude. We only go around once. I think it has become my favorite part of every event. I look forward to hearing from our event staff. I love hearing their ideas & the amazing things that happened behind the scenes during the event. I adore looking back & seeing those light bulb moments that happen for members in the audience. Having people come up & share their private stories of hardship and triumph. Taking time to reflect on those intimate moments. It reminds me why we do what we do.
In today’s world of electronics & social media we lose a lot of the human interaction. We have lost the art of eye contact & physical touch. We have lost the ability to celebrate all the good things that are happening because we tend to focus on the gossip, the news & all the things that either didn’t go right or things that COULD go wrong. We need to take the time to find the good things! If you are looking for perfection or trying to be perfect, or trying to live up to someone else’s expectation, you will always see failure. You will always feel like you are not enough.
When I reflect on the weekend & the events to come, it is the people. The freindships. The encouragement. The lifestyle. The laughs. The energy. I am so stinken’ grateful for all of it! For all of you! My life is blessed. My gratitude cup is overflowing.
Tony Robbins teaches a ritual of gratitude. He says you need to take 5 minutes every morning & speak all the things you are grateful for in your life. Yes, you need to say them out loud. I started doing this a very long time ago. When I first started doing it, I was in a dark place. I was sad and overwhelmed. I felt like I was being punished in my life because my health had taken so many hits. When I started speaking out loud about all the things I was grateful for, I felt like a weight was physically being lifted from my body. It is now my favorite time of the day. Originally it was odd & hard to speak of gratitude for 5 minutes a day. Now, I cap it off at 20 minutes a day because there is just soooo much to be thankful for <3
Anytime I start to feel like ANY situation is just too much, I step back into gratitude. I start speaking all the things, all the ways that God has blessed us! He is more than enough. He is my reason. I am not perfect. I do not live in a perfect body. But in Him, I am perfect. I am more than enough. He has given me grace & blessed me beyond measure. I see so many AMAZING things that are on their way for us; physically, emotionally, financially & spiritually. I know that this next year is going to be fabulous!
I really want to encourage you to step into massive gratitude. Not because things are perfect, but because you can change every cell in your body when you are in gratitude! I want to see you blessed beyond measure! I want blessings & abundance to over take YOU!!! That starts from a place of gratitude! I don’t want you to fake it until you make it. I want you to actually feel gratitude. If you are trying to set up your goals & action plans but you are in a place of regret, fear, anger, gossip, hatred, despair, frustration, lack… how do you think you are going to see a future that is anything but dark?
How do you start being grateful when everything seems dark? Start with you. What about YOU do you like? For me it was my eyes. I am grateful I still have vision. The first symptom I had with MS was a loss of vision in one eye. Through the years my vison comes and goes. I used to be a huge reader but now, I am an avid audible books girl. My vision. I am so blessed to still be able to see. I could look at it from a point of regret & anger. It is not fair that my vision has become so poor. It is not fair that I can only read a book for a short amount of time before my vision gets blurry. I could be angry. But I choose gratitude. It could be worse. I could have already lost my site. It happens to lots of people with MS. I choose gratitude. I like my hair. I know it could be considered vanity. But I thank God I have long shiny healthy hair. I am grateful I am able to walk 98% of the time. There was a season where I was in a wheelchair. I am so thankful I can walk. Yes, I fall sometimes. Yes, my leg drags sometimes & I look a little drunk, but glory to God, I can walk. I know many of the people in my MS Support Group who can not walk or see or think or speak or so very many things. I am grateful for all I can still do! I am grateful my blood work came back with little changes. I am grateful that I am getting better & better. Notice, I am not grateful for what I am missing, but oh so grateful for everything I still have. Speaking & thinking about the abundance of amazing things I still have brings abundnace! Once you have said all the things you are grateful for about yourself, start with your inner circle. Speak about all your family & close friends that you are grateful for & the blessings in their lives. I am grateful for my loving husband & best friend. I am grateful for all the little things he does for me. I am grateful for the things he does that drive me nuts, because I have friends who have lost their loved ones who would LOVE to be annoyed one more day. I am grateful that we still enjoy spending time together. I am grateful for those eyes that still look at me like I am the only person in the room. I am grateful for my son & the good he sees in other people. I am grateful that he is ALWAYS willing to help not just us, but anyone who needs a hand. I am grateful that he turned a bad temper into a way to protect the weak. I am grateful. Do you see where I am going with this?
Every morning I speak about all 4 of my children, their significant others, my sweet granddaughter. I speak about my extended family & Brian’s family. Then, I speak about my friends. My wonderful sweet friends. What a blessing!! All that gratitude will pour over into my business. I speak about so many aspects of my business!! The company, founders & executive team. The products that have changed my life & the lives of so many people. The members on my team & their individual organizations. The crossline friendships. Holy smokes, so much gratitude that just pours out. The financial freedom that has just blown us away! So many things to be grateful for. After that, I speak about our community, city, state, country, world & the magnificence of God's creation! I speak gratitude for the law makers & their ability to make good decisions for us as a people. I speak life & gratitude in every area. It eliminates the fear of the things we cannot control & gives me peace.
If you really start to speak about all the things that you are grateful for, I think you would see life through completely different lenses. Even if you have no family or friends; you could start with I am grateful that the sun rises every day without fail. I am grateful for the sunshine on my face. I am grateful for the breeze that blows across my skin. I am grateful for every sweet drop of clean water that I have to drink & bathe. I am grateful. If you started listing everything and just for a few minutes a day you forgot about all the bad stuff. All the things that you have a right to be upset about & instead, for just a minute, you listed all the things that you do have, I think you would see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I think you would feel a change in your awareness.
See this exercise is not just a way to start your day, but if you actually step into that place of gratitude, I think your life would take a dramatic turn. Being in gratitude doesn’t mean magically everything will be perfect. Being in gratitude means that even when things feel overwhelming & you feel like you can not take one more step, gratitude helps relive the pressure. It reminds you that you are going to make it. That you are more than enough. Being in gratitude means you don’t have to compare yourself to anyone. It means you are not in competition with the rest of the world. You are you & you can accomplish amazing things. Your gratitude accelerates your growth in every area of your life. It makes a way for you to let go of the past & see an exciting future where anything is possible.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean I never get upset. It doesn’t mean I never cry or get overwhelmed. Right now, this very minute, my body is weak & tired. My legs have not been at 100% since we came home for Florida. I had a very hard time at our conference. I even had a hard time speaking & twisted words while I on stage teaching. Dealing with MS is hard & frustrating. Gratitude means I don’t have to stay overwhelmed, sad or even frustrated. I dare you to try staying sad while speaking about all the wonderful things you have to be grateful for!!
True happiness comes from being grateful Now. Today. In this very moment. What if I am right? What if 5 minutes of gratitude everyday could change your life? If you decide to try it, please let me know what you experience when you step into massive gratitude. Tell me if you feel that pressure release or if your picture of your future changes. I promise every little cell in your body will thank you!!