Hello, gratitude rockstars!
This gratitude spotlight got such massive response from my Emboulden subscribers that I wanted to share this with the entire community.
I also want to share why I get REALLY excited this time of year and how these mindset gems can really create “aha” moments that inspire important shifts in your perspective — and therefore your happiness and success!
So let’s talk about gratitude!
It’s a time of SUCH potential!
With the holidays upon us, it really is the perfect time to ask ourselves how gratitude is showing up in our lives?
I know, I know…. gratitude has become such a buzz word that it is running the risk of turning into an eye roller… but stick with me…
Sometimes the natural tendency of our minds can be to think that “I already have these things” so I’m wasting my time if I focus on them.
Or how can I be authentically be “grateful” for something that I’m not really sure that I actually have?
Am I being genuine if I (for example) feel grateful for one moment when I felt financial ease versus terror?
What about my “obligation” to tell things like they “truly are”?
Writing a gratitude list can evolve into something like the old superstition of carrying around a rabbit’s foot if you want good things to happen….
It can also be one of the first things that we believe we “don’t have time for” as we mull over our massive “to do” lists for the umpteenth time.
So let’s banish the word “gratitude” for a moment and really get down to the good stuff.
Many of us have grown up to believe that the better that we learn to play the “what’s wrong with this picture game,” the more success (including approval) we will feel.
We quickly get to the point where we fixate on what’s wrong with the picture instead of remembering how glorious it feels to simply have our fingers covered in paint.
Our focus becomes consumed by this thing in our life that is “wrong”, “broken”, “unfair”, “difficult”, “challenging”, “painful”…. you get the picture.
So I would ask you, does 1 big “challenge” equal unhappiness?
We do choose to intentionally play sports or games where our goal is to be challenged.
Playing a sport with an opponent who is way below our own level is usually not most people’s idea of a good time.
And yet, when we encounter something to “play with” (you might call it a challenge) in our work, relationships, our finances, our health, it most certainly doesn’t tend to feel fun — does it?
The remedy?
Your focus and your perspective.
How does it impact this current “reality” if this challenge is on its way to becoming an integral part of a personal break through? Either something that you realize that you like or something that you will not choose again? Something that appears to work or something that you can now say is best tossed aside?
Take a breath and really ask yourself what you are making this challenge mean in the context of your life?
Are you assuming that it will benefit you or that it will cause you relentless grief?
Are you making assumptions/ envisioning your future as if this situation is permanent?
Is your mind telling you that it would be impossible for anything good to come from this challenge/ “setback”?
Clarity is the remedy to everything from overwhelm to feeling stuck.
Clarity creates the lights on the runway.
Without clarity, any action becomes simply a “distr-action”.
Clarity even when it says “ok, NO”, is a critical part of aiming for a fulfilled, happy and successful life.
The lovely cousin to the things that you identify that you (hopefully) will not choose again is gratitude.
Think of gratitude as the points that you want to visit on the GPS of your life.
Just because you haven’t yet had the chance to hike in the Himalayas doesn’t mean that you are being Inauthentic if you tell someone that you intend to do that someday.
In fact, if you know that you are saving for those weeks in the Himalayas, the months of working to accumulate the funds for that trip seem bearable.
You know that you are heading some place GREAT so why sweat over some hard work that is leading to THAT?
And you can feel excited about the prospect of hiking in the Himalayas even if you haven’t actually been there yet, can’t you?
So as you finish up November and 2018, take time to really focus on how far you have already come in this year.
What things big and small have you checked off on that GPS?
What things that maybe you haven’t experienced yet can you be excited about — and yes, grateful for?
What qualities within yourself can you celebrate?
What new dreams have you hatched?
What storms are brewing (that you know will lead to discovering new versions of the Himalayas)?
December is the perfect time to realize that your attitude, your perspective, your mindset either serves as rocket fuel or an emergency parking break.
It’s your choice.
You have a few mere decades to play on this glorious planet and you each are brilliant souls with incredible stories, dreams and possibilities.
As you move into the giving season, give yourself the gift of appreciating your own flow.
Focus on the points on your GPS that bring you joy and enthusiasm.
They are just as real as (if not more real than) the potholes that can seem so overwhelming.
What you are focusing on and the story that you create around that focus dictate how you experience these moments that you live ….
So choose wisely!
Let’s rock this weekend, “Joy-riors”!
xoxo
Meridith
Top Mindset Life Coach / Bestselling Author / Life Enthusiast
Check out my speaking site: www.meridithalexander.com
And follow us on www.facebook.com/schuyisthelimit and www.facebook.com/gritmindsetacademy
