Gratitude – 101

There is so much talk about gratitude these days, we are surrounded by it.   I remember years ago I spent hours writing sayings in a beautiful journal for my mother. I had an angel stamp so I sprinkled gold angels randomly through the journal. I thought it looked beautiful and inspiring.   I was going through a creative phase at that point and I was busily making things for people.   My mother was a negative woman and I was trying to give her some positives to focus on to help her change her mindset.   When I found the journal a long time later Mum had sadly only written two lines.   The two things that she could find to be grateful were: A lovely house to live in and a wonderful family   I had talked to her and tried to get her to focus on the things she could see –

• the view of the lake from her family room window.
• the beautiful plants in her garden
• the birds in the bird bath

Basically, focus on the smaller things in life. For me it’s the smell of the roses from my garden when I have them on my desk; the birds on the trees outside my window; the sound of the wind in the bamboo   It brings such a warm glow inside when I notice and appreciate the small things that I have.   Abundance and gratitude go hand in hand. When you have gratitude for the small things you realise how much abundance you have in your life … and what we have all learnt from the Law of Attraction, what you focus on expands as draws more abundance to you   I have found one way to really focus on a state of gratitude is to imagine you are writing a book and describe in great detail what you can see when you look at for example, a tree – the texture and colour of the bark, the shape of the leaves, are they the same green as the tree nearby?   I have bamboo outside my bedroom window and I love lying on my bed watching the bamboo move in the breeze, I notice all the sprouting of the new growth, the drops of water on the leaves if it has rained and most of all I notice how much it has grown and is giving me privacy from the house next door which is very close.   Then I imagine I am writing it for a book. I’m describing it in such great detail that the reader will see in their mind exactly what I am seeing   This has helped me to slow down, look, notice and see the beauty all around me. I see it in the small things … and it gives me such a warm sensation in my body   Try it … and let me know how it is for you!