A Grateful Heart💕
I really enjoy watching TED talks. I find that they are a great way to gain a new perspective within 10min. I recently watched a TED talk by Benedictine monk, David Steindl-Rast, on the topic of Gratefulness.
While his Austrian accent was at first a little distracting, the core of his message is powerful. ‘it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It's gratefulness that makes us happy.’ If we take a moment to stop, be mindful of the given moment and be thankful for life's opportunity,we hold the key to happiness in our own hands. In his words: ‘Stop, look and Go’.
Here are some ways to implement this in your own life:
STOP:
Take time to ‘be’. Whether is it through meditation or just allowing yourself 10min of me time. Your brain needs to be allowed to hit the refresh button before you can truly be Grateful for your situation. You can do this through meditation or just allowing yourself 10min of ‘me’ time. I find that my brain loves the competitive cycle of complaining and internal venting. By just stopping and thinking about what I'm thinking about, I give myself the opportunity to break this cycle.
LOOK:
Be curious about the sensations in your body and how the situation is affecting you.
Take a step back and look it the situation with fresh eyes. Ask yourself, what can I learn from this? As a therapist, I can at times be too aware of my sensory needs. I find journaling helps me to start the process of ‘stopping’, and self-examine what is really going on. The App the Gratitude journal
365 is a great online tool for this. It also comes with a reminder to take the time to sit and reflect on what you are Grateful for.
DO:
This is your moment to take up the opportunity and be called into action. To change something, thank someone or volunteer your service to something. The Gratitude Jar is another app which is a perfect place to share your Grateful heart if you feel like you can't do this in person. Lighting a candle, as suggested by Brother David, is another.
Visual reminders are another method to keep yourself Grateful. At one stage when I was struggling with self-image issues I took a sonar scan from my baby book. ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ Psl 139:14 I wrote on the bottom. Every time I saw it, it was a reminder that I was made for a reason and I became Grateful of just being me.
So I encourage you to get creative! Make something personal that will remind daily to be Grateful.
Yet from personal experience I can tell you there is nothing better than saying thank you. Studies show that the person saying thank you benefits more. Whether it's a small note or a conversation over coffee, you are actually benefiting emotionally by taking the time to thank someone.
So thank you to those that have encouraged me in the writing of this blog, my fellow snowflakes, friends and family! I have so many people I want to thank, but instead of sending a generic message, please look out for my phone call or personal message!
While his Austrian accent was at first a little distracting, the core of his message is powerful. ‘it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It's gratefulness that makes us happy.’ If we take a moment to stop, be mindful of the given moment and be thankful for life's opportunity,we hold the key to happiness in our own hands. In his words: ‘Stop, look and Go’.
Here are some ways to implement this in your own life:
Take time to ‘be’. Whether is it through meditation or just allowing yourself 10min of me time. Your brain needs to be allowed to hit the refresh button before you can truly be Grateful for your situation. You can do this through meditation or just allowing yourself 10min of ‘me’ time. I find that my brain loves the competitive cycle of complaining and internal venting. By just stopping and thinking about what I'm thinking about, I give myself the opportunity to break this cycle.
LOOK:
Take a step back and look it the situation with fresh eyes. Ask yourself, what can I learn from this? As a therapist, I can at times be too aware of my sensory needs. I find journaling helps me to start the process of ‘stopping’, and self-examine what is really going on. The App the Gratitude journal
365 is a great online tool for this. It also comes with a reminder to take the time to sit and reflect on what you are Grateful for.
DO:
This is your moment to take up the opportunity and be called into action. To change something, thank someone or volunteer your service to something. The Gratitude Jar is another app which is a perfect place to share your Grateful heart if you feel like you can't do this in person. Lighting a candle, as suggested by Brother David, is another.
Visual reminders are another method to keep yourself Grateful. At one stage when I was struggling with self-image issues I took a sonar scan from my baby book. ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ Psl 139:14 I wrote on the bottom. Every time I saw it, it was a reminder that I was made for a reason and I became Grateful of just being me.
So I encourage you to get creative! Make something personal that will remind daily to be Grateful.
Yet from personal experience I can tell you there is nothing better than saying thank you. Studies show that the person saying thank you benefits more. Whether it's a small note or a conversation over coffee, you are actually benefiting emotionally by taking the time to thank someone.
So thank you to those that have encouraged me in the writing of this blog, my fellow snowflakes, friends and family! I have so many people I want to thank, but instead of sending a generic message, please look out for my phone call or personal message!
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