Expressing Gratitude

"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."--Meister Eckhart

   Over the course of the past three years, I have been going through a major paradigm shift in my life. Nurturing my spiritual foundation with much needed Love, my perspective on what it truly means to be grateful has nevertheless shifted as well. 

   I've come to learn that gratitude has no real rules to follow--you don't necessarily have to send thank you notes to people for every single gift you receive to be grateful. You don't have to go to great lengths to show others how appreciative you are to be grateful. You don't even have to utter one word out loud to be grateful. (Though it might help others to hear the words "Thank you" on occasion). No, gratitude is less of an act and more of an attitude. A feeling. A sense. Knowledge. 

   I believe that when we are truly grateful, that gratitude will reflect in all aspects of life. We may find that we have more patience and time to share with loved ones, acquaintances, even strangers we meet out in public. Rather than rushing through our days, rarely stopping to notice what's going on around us, we might find that when we do allow ourselves to slow down to be in the present moment, a lightness of being there might follow. Giving ourselves permission to slow down and just be opens up opportunity for reflection on how grateful we are to be here--and maybe to be with others on a similar journey of experience together. 

   Gratitude has become a constant in my life, and though it undoubtedly takes time, effort, and consistency (like all worthwhile things in life do), I have found that holding it within for myself, as well as reflecting it to others whenever I can, is its own reward. Material objects seem to hold less value for me as they once did as I continue acknowledging and expressing gratitude everyday.

   There are other benefits as well. For instance, on days that I find myself less able to think about gratitude (for whatever reason), I try to think about all that I am still grateful for in my life. Even if it's just a small thing such as: "Well, I've got ice cream in the freezer", or bigger: "I have a sweet bird who knows how to whistle songs and make the day seem brighter when he does", to the even bigger: "Of course, I have a wonderful husband, friends, and family that I love very much and who love me." What you actually think about when you take this type of "gratitude inventory" is not as important as the fact that you're actively reaching within yourself for that feeling and knowledge of gratitude during times when you might have, instead, allowed yourself to sink into thoughts and feelings of negativity. 

   
   So, how does communication come into play for this blog entry? Well, I believe communication occurs not just between us but also within us. We have conversations with ourselves all the time! That little voice that speaks to us as our conscience tells us all kinds of things about what we "should" and "should not" do, we talk to ourselves in the form of thoughts whenever we're trying to make decisions, whenever we're experiencing emotions, worrying about something, planning the rest of our day, etc. The list goes on and on...So, while you're engaging in communication with yourself, it might be interesting and worthwhile to try discussing that which you're grateful for--then try expressing it to others. 

   
   For our first Christmas together as a married couple, I recall creating a "Gratitude Journal" for my husband. Each day (beginning around November--when I had the idea) I would reflect upon what I was thankful for about him and write it down as an entry. I decorated the entries with little symbols and pictures and tried to make it visually appealing, though obviously, the words of appreciation were most important. I spent the time leading up to that Christmas expressing gratitude to my husband, and even on those days when I wasn't necessarily feeling all that grateful (maybe we had a disagreement one day), I looked within myself to what it was about him that I always appreciated and wrote about that. It was never impossible to find something to be grateful for, as on one of those days of disagreement with him, I remember writing something along the lines of: "Even though we disagreed about______, I appreciate that we are able to talk about it and come to better understandings about each other." Gratitude is always under the surface of every situation if we just scratch hard enough. 

   
   I'm glad that I had the opportunity to share my thoughts with you today and that people will read this blog and learn something from it. This is what fuels me to keep writing and sharing. I'm grateful for the lessons and the knowledge that comes from the process. Thank you for reading. :-)