What? You thought I gave up?! 😉

Yes, I am on to day 6 and feeling, well, pretty excited!

Sticktoitiveness is a moment by moment matter…much like everything else. So, today and yesterday, I took myself moment by moment.  Have you ever done that?

You get up and decide that today, I am just going to do me.  You decide to let go and let yourself be without worry about what is coming next or what was left behind.  In so doing, I began thinking about how much we tend to judge ourselves–harshly.

We belittle ourselves for our imperfect outer appearance and our imperfect personalities or thought processes or whatever. Today, I decided simply to take myself as I am and be grateful for it:

Hey! I’ve got feet. I can walk! Yes!

Wow! I remembered my email password! Yes!

Amazing! I stayed awake all day! Yes! 

It’s the little things that we are capable of doing or that we have that we tend to overlook. We become hyper-focused on what material thing we need to purchase next or what self-improvement course we ought to take to make ourselves better.   How about this: let’s borrow Susan Powter’s 1990s catchphrase and Stop the Insanity?

How about we are just right as we are today?

How about being grateful that we’ve made it this far in our existence?

Here are some reasons why it’s great to be grateful (Psychology Today):

• Grateful thinking promotes the appreciation of positive life experiences
• Expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and self-esteem
• Gratitude helps people cope with stress and trauma (the one we’re focused on today)
• Expressing gratitude encourages moral behavior
• Gratitude helps build social bonds
• Expressing gratitude helps us not make negative comparisons with others
• Practicing gratitude is incompatible with negative emotion; it diminishes emotions like anger, bitterness, or greed
• Practicing gratitude helps us remain aware of the present moment and not take things for granted

Not convinced? Well, read this excerpt from the article “Thanks! The Beneficial Effects of Expressing Gratitude” from Positive Psychology Program: 

“Grateful people are more agreeable, open and less neurotic…Gratitude is negatively related to depression and positively to satisfaction with life…Gratitude relates to willingness to forgive…Gratitude relates to low narcissism…Gratitude strengthens relationships and promotes relationship formation and maintenance…as well as relationship connection and satisfaction…”

——

So, what can you do to be grateful to yourself and others?

Well, one suggestion is to keep a gratitude journal and write daily about the things in your life for which you are grateful.

Personally, I prefer beginning with a gratitude meditation for the body, acknowledging the wonder of having this physical form in which to navigate my world and to make connections with those who are in it.

Do what works for you.  Be creative on your path of gratitude.

Enjoy yourself in your body and in your world!

Until Next Time!

D.