Appreciate Your Way Through Difficult Times
As our world continues to shift and experience growing pains during these transformative times, many people are struggling through the changes, often feeling fearful, numb, and/or exhausted from the "roller coaster." There is a specific practice that can help us through these difficulties: the art of appreciation.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed about any given issue, think about it right now. Can you find something about it that you can actually feel grateful for, as problematic as it may be? For instance, if you’re frustrated with your job, can you find something to appreciate about it? If you are grieving the breakup of a relationship, what things did that union provide you that you would not have experienced had you not met? If you hurt your foot and get laid up for days, what were the positive effects of giving your whole body a chance to rest? I think you get the idea. This practice lessens the negative impact on your spirit and well-being.
In general, finding even the simplest of things to be grateful for will transform your mood as well as your future. Sometimes I’ll see a ray of sunshine come through the window and be thankful for it. Or a joyful day with my family. Or seeing a hawk fly above me. Or a conversation with a friend that breaks out in uncontrollable laughter. Or receiving a genuine smile from a stranger. Or a ladybug crawling up my arm. When we stay in that mode of appreciation, we are focusing on the good. The Law of Attraction will bring more good to you, more to appreciate in general.
Showing and feeling appreciation for others does so much for you as well as the person on the receiving end. For example, if you have a kind and efficient waitperson at a restaurant, tell him or her that you appreciate their excellent service. We all want to feel appreciated; you feel good telling the waiter/waitress, and this person will feel that their efforts indeed feel valued. The same goes for showing appreciation for an outstanding teacher who makes a difference in your child’s world. Or for a pilot and crew who gets you safely to your destination. So often people are stuck in complaining mode, and only speak up when things go wrong. When we speak up and feel good about things going right, that sets into motion more positive manifestations.
Your focus on gratitude for even the simplest of things will help you ride the bumps in your daily existence. Some people like to keep a gratitude journal or somehow write these things down. If you like that, great! However you can also just take note in your mind. But the most important part of showing appreciation? The feeling part of it. Feelings are the language of the soul and when you feel the emotion, it’s powerful and transformative. Feel the appreciation within your beautiful spirit. And always, always appreciate you, yourself, and the very essence of who you are.
