Change Your Daily Experience by Practicing Gratitude

Last night, Sayde woke me up at midnight to go the the bathroom. I was angry at her, as I stomped down the stairs in a sleep-filled haze, because she hadn't gone when I'd walked her around [forever] before going to bed just a few hours earlier. 

As I shuffled around the yard in my PJs, bleary-eyed and dizzy with sleep, I was frustrated. I felt so much anger towards our sweet little dog, who has been waking us up *quite* frequently in the middle night lately, and I felt this anger rising up and starting to takeover my mind. 

And then, as I became more aware of what was happening inside of me, I made a conscious decision to practice gratitude, instead; I thought of some good friends who have recently lost their dog, the love of their lives. I thought about how much they would give to be taking him out in the middle of the night, or just to take him out for a couple more nights, and my anger disappeared.

Instead, I felt so grateful to have such a loving, healthy, entertaining little pup in my life. I felt so grateful to be taking her out at midnight. 

Although I didn't, I could have taken this gratitude even further: I'm so grateful that taking Sayde out in the middle of the night means just stumbling out my front door and into my yard, instead of getting dressed to go down an elevator inside a big building, or out onto an unsafe street or neighborhood. I'm so glad that she woke me up so sweetly, with loving little licks, instead of just going to the bathroom inside the house. I'm so grateful that I have this dog who is training me to [hopefully] become a better mom someday, by forcing me to learn that sleep isn't always as important as taking care of the ones you love. 

As you can see from this little story, gratitude is powerful. It took me from a place of anger and frustration to a place of appreciation and awareness in just a few moments. We all know this is possible, yet we forget about it during the nitty gritty details of our daily lives. Or at least I do, on most occasions.

I wish I could say that I'm this mindful and grateful all the time, but I'm not. Over the course of a day, I forget to practice gratitude and look at the big picture, because I get bogged down in the minutia of life. 

But this same practice can apply to anything, really.

You may have a super obnoxious client that is driving you up the wall. But wow, isn't it wonderful that you have your own business and that you got this client on your own?

Your boss may be making you really angry, but isn't it incredible that you found a job that you love so much, or that pays so well, or that you have a boss who is really great and understanding 95% of the time?

You may be really stressed out by everything that you have going on in your life, but goodness, aren't you lucky to have so many opportunities, to be involved in so many things you're passionate about, and to be filled with such purpose?

You may have tons of work to do on your new house--and feel really overwhelmed by it--but OMG, you bought your first  house!?!?

I know that gratitude practice might just sound like being annoyingly positive, or, always trying to "look on the bright side" or become a glass-is-half-full kind of person, but it's more than that. 

It's catching yourself in the process of getting heated, angry, stressed, frustrated, or dejected about something. It's about being mindful and aware, and then taking the time to shift your thinking. Or at least give it a bit more perspective.

Practicing gratitude doesn't mean that you can't still be angry or stressed, or that you Pollyanna your way through life. It means that you're fully aware of negative feelings and how they're affecting you, and you make a conscious choice to bring positive feelings into the mix, too, in order to dilute those negative feelings.

You take the time to see the good things that surround a stressful situation, and perhaps, you give those good things a bit more weight in order to tip the scales, or find more balance. 

Does that make sense? It can be so hard to remember, but I think that introducing more gratitude into your daily life is one of the most profound ways to change your thinking, your outlook, and your experience of living. 

I urge you to try practicing gratitude today, and see how it feels. It's pretty spectacular.