DEFINITION – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
If there is one thing I am sure of in this life, it is just how important gratitude is…
It is that gratitude makes everything a little better and makes things a little brighter, in the midst of darkness. It is something that I practice regularly, and by doing so, it builds my resilience and my feelings of hope. Challenges seem smaller somehow, and it opens doors of possibility.
I am so well practiced at being grateful, because of the journey I have been on for countless years. When I struggled from the ages of 18 to 26…I would constantly give thanks for all the good things in my life, even when I had a constant cloud over the top of me, in the form of mental illness. I chose to focus on those things that made me smile, and feel good. At times there wasn’t a lot that made me smile, but I was thankful for the little things, all the same.
I remember writing a poem in my creative writing class at university when I was about 22. I reflected on all the things in life that nurtured the child in me. This is a powerful way to really lift yourself up when you are feeling overwhelmed by the things you cannot control. The sorts of things that I would constantly give thanks for were things like:
Having a good belly laugh
Drinking milk through a curly straw
Enjoying a cup of tea
The roof over my head and the bed that I slept in
A smile from a stranger
Sunshine and nature
Now days, so from the ages of 26 to now, my gratitude is on an entirely different level… Because I am well and because I have my health… and this is the most important thing for me. Every day that I feel mentally well, I thank the universe for making it so. And when I have days where I struggle a bit, I am thankful for my family; my friends; my work; the opportunities I have had and continue to attract into my life.
I am thankful for the clothes on my back, the food in my cupboard and the laptop that I spend so much time on 🙂 But most of all, I am happy just to be alive.
I urge you to start making time for a practice of gratitude – even 5 minutes a day. You will be amazed at just how much you can come up with. This will lift you up when you are feeling down, and it will help you to attract more good things into your life. It is key to manifesting more of what you actually want, into your life. It is important to remember that if you focus only on what is going wrong in your life, then you will only attract more of what you don’t want. So always, always, focus on the positive.
If I can do this… with the challenges I faced and continue to face every day, I believe anyone can.
One final reflection about gratitude… when I was younger, when I suffered from anorexia nervosa… in hindsight I still had much to be grateful for (such as a loving family). The thing with anorexia nervosa though is that there is only one focus, and that is food and weight. With 110% focus on these things alone, there was no room for gratitude, and therefore no feelings of hope and very little resilience. This is why I still say to this day, that going through a severe eating disorder was the most difficult thing that I had to overcome – and the most painful thing to go through. It is like living in distress 24/7. Darkness only attracts more darkness. In recovery from my eating disorder, I found a glimmer of light… and this allowed me to see the good in things again…. And this allowed me to feel grateful; and hopeful…. And I am thankful that now it is my second nature to see the good in things… and I feel this has been the key for me to move forward in life, to grow and learn and attract new and wonderful things into my life.
I am truly grateful every day and I am blessed
Kate's Niche 