Creating Gratitude
By Miche Lame’
We are told, a lot, to have an attitude of gratitude. What happens when you find yourself out of the flow of gratitude? What can you do? You can create it! You are a creator, so you can develop and use this skill.
Right now, I am sitting outside on a beautiful autumn day and it is easy, so easy to feel and connect with gratitude. With my feet in the soft, cool grass, and the bird song, the sun shining down and the crisp air, it is sooo easy to feel grateful. Unlike earlier today.
Earlier today, I realized my phone was not working when a client called; the phone stopped ringing and disconnected, not forwarding the call to my office staff. I had been wondering about the phone since it had been acting up, yet I didn’t want to take the time to check it out — after all, it’s a bother — right?
So, here I am, on a day already filled, and of course I want to be available for my clients, so I call the phone company. At first, the young woman was short and did not know the answer and hung up. I was frustrated and trying to be grateful. Allowing myself to process the frustration, I became calm and relaxed which then assisted me in connecting with gratitude from the heart, knowing there is somehow a lesson here for me.
Playing with the phone for a while, I realize that perhaps it is the SIM card. So, out I go to the store and approach the young lady who had hung up on me. To my surprise, she was very pleasant and had looked up what might be the issue, patiently fixing the problem on my phone, and saving me money. I am very grateful to her.
I do not know how things might have been different if I had gone to the store in an attitude of righteousness, anger, or frustration — any of the egoic emotions that separate us from each other. As it was, it was a very pleasant experience and I expressed my gratitude to her. She seemed unaccustomed to praise and gratitude. How sad. I suspect my experience would have been different if I had gone in upset and blustery.
So, what’s my lesson? Gratitude changes everything. To learn to create and connect with gratitude anytime, even when things are uncomfortable, is a choice. How you can start is by noticing what you are grateful for. Feel the emotion in your heart. Connect with this feeling of gratitude. Anchor it by putting your hand on your heart. Practice this every time you feel gratitude.
Another practice I suggest to clients is to feel and connect with your breath before you get out of bed in the morning. Then, with your hand on your heart, connect with the feeling of gratitude. Find three things to be grateful for. Really feel the gratitude. That’s important. If you just go through the motions without the energy and emotion behind them, there will be little change.
You may also choose to do this at night before going to sleep, as your subconscious mind will then go over and over those connections, creating a new neuro-pathway, a new program in your biocomputer, so that when you are feeling anything but love and gratitude, you now have a program or habit that you can use to create that feeling of gratitude. All you have to do is put your anchor, your hand, on your heart and connect with the emotion of gratitude.
If you have difficulties, you can imagine something that you are grateful about or for. Congratulations! You are using your creator ability to create gratitude anytime you want!
