Are you tired of the same old, same old? The hum drum of your everyday life? What if for one day, just one day, you were grateful for everything? Sound ridiculous? Sound impossible? It isn't. And it will change your life.
Stay with me here. What if you took just one day to be grateful for everything that happens to you. To take every situation and make it work for you instead of against you? It's unlikely you will be able to remember to do it all day long as it is so different from how we usually approach things but if you can for even half of the things that happen throughout the day you will find how different life can really be.
I got a text message from a friend the other day telling me she had listened to a podcast about expectations and that she realized she had always had very little faith in herself therefore not much confidence in her ability to succeed. She often operated through life expecting to fail and not really feeling like she deserved good things in her life. Reading that brought such a smile to my face. Not because of how she was operating her whole life but because she realized how low her expectations of herself and how little self-worth she had been. I told her that considering that letting all those limiting beliefs affect her mindset her whole life yet she has still done amazing things in her life. I said; imagine how far you can go once you let go of those old, limiting beliefs and really show up for yourself with confidence and hope.
Part of what kept me a pessimist for so long was the fact I was so bogged down in my own limiting beliefs. We all have them. It's those that discover them and then work to overcome them that find what they are looking for in life. Instead of constantly expecting the worst... how would life look if we expected the best instead? What if we assumed that what we sought was available to us and all we had to do was ask for it, work for it and allow it. To truly believe we are worthy of the things we desire. To have the confidence to know we can make happen anything we set out to do.
Back to being grateful for everything for a whole day. Let's walk through what that would look like. You wake up with a kink in your neck from sleepy wonky. Great...you still woke up! You still have the use of your arms and legs and can move about wherever you choose. Did you wake up next to someone you love? A spouse/partner/child/pet? How lucky are you???What about when you sit down for your morning pee you feel gratitude for indoor plumbing! I actually have a friend who has cousins in the deep south that still use an outhouse. In 2022! I promise I am not making this up. As you jump in the shower be grateful for the hot water raining down on you and all the products you get to use to help get spic and span and smell good too. And all those hair products and the blow dryer/curl iron/straightener that help you get your hair exactly how you like it. The drawers full of make-up and skincare products you use and don't use. The fact that you have so many choices to make yourself look any way you want on any given day. You can skip the hair and make-up routine altogether and put that hair up in a ponytail or you can make fancy yourself up so much you look like a supermodel! Now, think about the drawers and closet you have chock full of clothes. How many different choices for an outfit do you have? Take a guess! I love some fashionable clothes but I would hardly call myself a clothes horse but even I have literally hundreds of options when it comes to putting outfits together. And that includes whether I'm going casual, sporty, professional or classy. And let's not forget about the shoes! I probably do have a bit of a shoe problem. I love shoes and boots.
And that is even before you leave your bedroom. Now you get to go to your fully stocked kitchen and make that all important first cup of coffee (or whatever gets you going). You likely have food that you can consume and it's fresh and nutritious. These are some of the things that we American's take so much for granted. Such a big part of the world does not wake up this way. They don't have a warm bed with fluffy pillows, comforters and sheets. They don't have two outfits to wear and they don't know how they will be eating or feeding their families each day. Do you realize how much we have the blessing to take for granted every day?
Are you heading out to work? Do you have a reliable car to get your there? Do you have access to public transportation that gets you where you need to go? Even if you don't enjoy your job (which you should totally find one you love) think about what it gives you. Money to pay for all those things you just got to enjoy while getting ready for work. The house, the food, the clothes. But let's say there is that co-worker that always seems to have a little too much to say to you. You could be grateful that even though you don't like this person we live in a place where people can be their annoying selves as much as they want. That means you can be annoying to people too and give it right back to said annoying person. Or you can be grateful that you get to leave that person behind at the end of the day and not see them again for a hours and sometimes days at a time.
There will be days that will be bad though but we can even turn these things into lessons. Imagine getting a flat tire on the way home. The worst, right? Do you have roadside assistance? Great! All you have to do is call and wait. Sure, it's inconvenient but you have a simple solution. Don't have roadside assistance? Okay, maybe this is a lesson in having such a service available to you. (In case you don't know, most auto insurance policies include a certain amount of roadside assistance incidents per year included.) Or best case scenario, you have someone you can call who can come change your tire for you? Be grateful for and to that person. But it all comes down to the fact that you have a vehicle to get you where you want to go that is the ultimate in being blessed.
You finally get home after that ordeal but you haven't decided on dinner yet. There is fresh food in your fridge that you can use to make an old fashioned home cooked meal. Or maybe there is a frozen dinner you would prefer because it's quick. Ordering in is also an option. There are so many choices we have. Not only on how we get our food but what type of food we want to eat. It's truly a remarkable situation that the majority of Americans are overweight because we choose foods that taste good instead of foods that make us feel good. Not everyone of course but we go with fast, easy and delicious over choosing foods that fuel us to have the energy to be the best humans we can be. That is the ultimate in being blessed. Not only do we have the option of so many different foods to choose from but we take it so much for granted that we predominantly eat for pleasure rather than fueling our bodies to keep them moving and working the way they should. People in other countries would love a brownie but I'm willing to bet they would choose something that will sustain them and give them the maximum amount of energy they can get from a protein source. But that's just my opinion.
I'm guessing you have some sort of entertainment for after dinner as well. A nice, big television to watch or a phone to scroll through social media with. Books to read, music to listen to, scented candles to light. And light! Power! A comfy couch to rest and relax on. And then you get to go back to your warm, comfy bed to spend a whole night sleeping and restoring yourself for another amazing day! Oh what a wonderful life we get to lead!
Seriously, I only touched on some very small aspects of your whole day and there is so much we take for granted. If we could spend just one day being grateful for everything...even those things we think aren't the greatest...and realize that even what we perceive to be our problems are blessings we will go forward in life in a much different way. In a much more positive and productive way.
So will you give it a go? Will you try it for just one day? I guarantee it will change your whole outlook on life.
If you like this episode please leave me a review and if you haven't hit that subscribe or follow button yet...why not, goshnabbit? Please go ahead and do that and you will be notified whenever there is a new episode available.
Now go forward this week thinking about all the possibilities and opportunities we have available to us and make them work for you instead of against you. Oh and be badass too. You know I'm here cheering you on.
Comments