When gratitude feels hard…

Have you tried to start a gratitude journal or a simple practice of giving thanks for your blessings daily and failed? Or have you felt like you are doing them automatically, therefor the practice seems to be fake or useless? Well, you are not alone and this is actually normal and expected.

I ask all my clients to work on gratitude. The power of gratitude is incomparable and many times underestimated. But we go at it like we go with most things in life, we want it to give us a immediate gratification. We want fireworks or some type of fast relief.  When we don’t get it, we label the practice as useless, or even worst, we assume we are not doing it right, or start thinking secretly that we are bad people because we cannot commit to giving thanks.  I hear this often, from my clients and many others; this is, of course, a tactic of the ego to stop you from doing something that actually DOES work.

I am guilty of not being very consistent with this practice, at least I wasn’t for a while, but something shifted, and when I understood how powerful this could be I became an avid “Thanks-giver”. Once I began to really move into that field of gratitude I felt such love and protection come over me that I was hooked. I felt so safe, guided and supported by all. It is an amazing feeling, like being in your moms womb. It is the pure feeling of knowing you are loved and lovable.

What got me to this point was a combination of things: My ongoing devotion with the practice of A Course in Miracles, a deeper understanding of the vibration of thoughts knowing that gratitude is one of the highest vibrating ones and a relentless observation of my “loveless” or low vibrating thoughts. Lastly, I started to listen more to Abraham Hicks – a thing I tried before but didn’t do much because I wasn’t spiritually ready to understand the message (which has nothing to do with getting things).

My gratitude routine is simple. And for those of you that love and use a Master teacher or avatar as a guide I need to confess I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of Jesus. If this surprises you it’s ok. I haven’t shared this with you. But that is about to change.  Most serious spiritual paths have Master teachers, with the exception perhaps of Zen Buddhism and the Tao. I have always gravitated towards Mother Mary, but this year I found the incredible support of the most loving human being that even lived. I started by praying that he helped me experience more gratitude. Then we built this routine:

I wake up and before I do my Course in Miracles exercise I seat and call on God. I recently started to call him Father, I think Jesus inspired that. I affirm that I am His beloved child. That sets the stage because a loving father provides for his children. I say something like “Father I am here, I am your beloved daughter thank you for creating me out of love”….plus some other personal words that come up each day. I then start thinking about all the things I am grateful for. I start with the very basic things: clean water, electricity, a place to live, food, etc. But instead of listing them I see them in my mind and I look for the emotion I experience when I’m receiving a gift. I then move to my family and see their faces, then my friends, the places and people I work with, I picture them all in my mind and I elicit this emotion of receiving gifts. Sometimes I even smile when I am doing this. From there a momentum builds, more and more images start coming up along with rays of light. Every day is different. I have days  I spend 20 minutes in that space, there are others where I struggle to get 5 minutes. But I always feel better afterwards.

When I have those “Dry days” it is typically because I didn’t do my practices before bed or because I am rushing it. Abraham Hicks says that if you go to bed out of The Vortex you’ll wake up out of The Vortex. In my language and that of a Course in Miracles I’d interpret this as “If you go to bed and your last thoughts are not of Love, chances are your first thoughts next day will be unloving thoughts”. That’s where watching TV, being on social media, the internet etc. at night is not going to help you. Hitting the snooze too many times won’t help you either because you won’t have time to savor it. Both go hand in hand, so be thankful that you have a bed and get to it on time…The good news is you can do this very practice sitting on your bed. Keep it very simple.

No matter what, those “dry days” will happen. What do I do when I have them? I start with my breathing practice. I do breath initiated movement for about 5 minutes and that sets up the stage to dive into Love. Why? Because a breathing practice requires concentration and that is the first stop towards meditation. If the day is particularly hard I pray to be helped. I repeat things like “Help me find the gratitude in my heart” “I know there is a place in my heart full of love and joy, help me remember it” sometimes I paraphrase ACIM saying “Just because I cannot see it doesn’t mean it isn”t there – I know that my Truth is a Being full of gratitude”. Then I ask for help directly to Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Teachers I am connected with. I picture them seating there with me and I feel their compassion for me, because they know I am trying. I feel so loved. That is enough, I am easy on myself because  I don’t put a goal or a expectation on how to do this.

I decided to write this post because this week there will be a lot of talking around gratitude. If you have tried a gratitude journal of other gratitude practice and have failed, I would like to invite you to dive in deeper. I am asking you this because I’m clear that my main mission is to help people come out of adrenal fatigue, burnout and overwhelm (with all the physical and emotional pain that it brings). If I am truth to my calling I cannot bypass this pilar. Everyone that comes to me with an overactive mind, poor sleep, no energy or with anxiety episodes and fatigue is not connecting to the blessings they have. Or they carry guilt because they think they “should” be thankful but they are not feeling it. Often they are chasing things and missing what it is in front of them. In this process a veil covers their vision and they cannot see what they have. Because they cannot see it they don’t feel loved and they keep trying, pushing, and doing to feel “worthy” of this love. No wonder you are tired. Who wouldn’t ? That is so disheartening! This is the root cause of much of modern stress. I know this because years ago, before I became a coach, I was a dog chasing that unattainable tail too.

This week I invite you to pray that the veil be removed for you, if only for a few minutes every day. Be still and have faith that this is going to work. Call on the angels or any other benevolent beings of your understanding to get the help you need. Give thanks, not because it is a “good” thing to do but because it brings you joy and it takes you to a place where you are not tired or overwhelmed but infinitely loved and supported, always.

Here’s two prayers of gratitude to start. May they help you in your journey to that place in your heart.

Gratitude for help lifting the darkness by Sonia Choquette

Holy Mother-Father God, Divine loving light of and the Heart of the Universe

Thank you for lighting my way through the darkness and for keeping my heart open to your love and guidance. I feel your presence in my heart and in my bones, clearing and cleansing the old and making way for the new. I am grateful for your love

Amen and infinite gratitude

Amen and So it is by Sonia Choquette

Holy Mother-Father God, Divine loving light of and the Heart of the Universe

I thank you for the Grace you have showered upon me for all my days. I thank you for all the generous blessings of my life. I thank you for your ceaseless love for my soul.  I accept your grace, blessings, and love and thank you with all my heart and soul

Amen and infinite gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving,

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