One Weird Trick

One Weird Trick

I am always on the lookout for things that make life nicer. I have found the most wonderful additive EVER! It’s amazing. When applied liberally, it makes foods and drinks more delicious. But that’s not all, it enhances our relationships! It makes our clothes nicer! It makes our homes more comfortable and peaceful! It makes our tasks more fun! Holy moly! Is there nothing it can’t do?

Have you guessed? You probably have it already, right at hand.

When I practice appreciation and gratitude, everything in my life is nicer. It’s so weird.

When I slow down enough to appreciate the taste of my food or beverages, Lo, they taste so much better.

When I take a moment to savor the delights of our relationship, to appreciate how cool and interesting, and deep, and smart you are, I feel my love for you so much more deeply.

When I pause to appreciate my sweet home, I feel contentment, I feel comfy and tenderly held by the walls.

When I halt for a bit to appreciate my very own body, I marvel at the miracle of it. I delight in its senses. I revel in the joy of movement. I am dazzled by the miracle of skin.

I know, it sounds dorky, but the experience! The experience is so rich when I take the time to notice it, whatever the it is.

Gratitude and appreciation are gateway emotions. When applied liberally, it makes it easier to love, to create, to choose my natural life. Gratitude and appreciation wreck stuff, pulverizes stuff. When I am grateful, I cannot worry. When I am appreciating, I don’t feel guilty or ashamed. And the more I practice feeling grateful, the more I break my bad emotional habits and grind those bad feelings into little tiny bits I can blow away.

How do I feel when I feel grateful? Being grateful is weird if you haven’t done it before. For me, feeling grateful happens a lot in my chest, like my heart is opening. To practice feeling grateful, take a moment to focus your mind a bit, follow your breath in and out a few times, and ask, “How do I feel when I feel grateful?” I find it starts in my chest, behind my breastbone, and grows up into a smile. The more I practice, the easier it gets. Like all our good stuff.

Start with gratitude for the easy stuff; loved ones, a home, enough food; the big ones. As that gets easy, begin practicing on the slightly harder stuff, and work your way up to the challenging stuff, like being grateful for your car, and highways, in rush hour, or appreciating having a job when you are doing the tasks you don’t like. With practice, you can find something to appreciate, something to be grateful for, in any situation. That’s one weird trick.

How have I changed from taking for granted or discounting my life to appreciating the lavishness of it all?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 07042013