Hi Everyone,

In the past, I would think that the word gratitude often sounded more like a platitude that’s over-used and under-appreciated than anything actually transformative. Today, we’re not talking about platitudes, or masking pain with false cheeriness. We are talking about Gratitude as an authentic Wellness Strategy.

This means, the action of living life with a thankful heart; returning kindness; showing appreciation; acknowledging the good; and noticing the abundance. Thinking, feeling, knowing, verbalising and actioning gratitude as a strategy for living a better life in your spirit and in your daily interactions.

So, let me ask – if you were convinced that there was a pay off for adopting a gratitude wellness strategy that outweighed the comfort you get from worrying, stressing and complaining- would you be willing to put your energy into that, instead?

Imagine, if the actual way to solve your problems and deal with difficult, miserable circumstances is to focus not on them, but on cultivating an attitude of gratitude. What if that could actually produce tangible results?

Just imagine, if even when you’re lost or alone or broke, you had the ability to feel centred inside and to take action, to persist, to have faith that things can turn around for you.

It’s starting to sound a bit like a fairytale, isn’t it? Well maybe it is or maybe it’s possible. Maybe there is this human quality that, if we cultivate and believe in, can bring us both inner peace and abundance.

Here’s what I know, for sure. There’s no harm in becoming aware of what we feel good about and realising that we have the power to choose the way we think, right? But more than that, scientists are now using the power of gratitude journaling in medical research. They’re learning how many of our physical and emotional symptoms can be treated and supported by adding this new habit into our lives. So, both spirit and science are converging on this topic to prove that adopting a gratitude wellness strategy can provide tangible results in our physical and emotional experiences.

Interested? I certainly was, when I invited Carolyn Flower on to my radio show on newsforthesoul.com, on 3 July, 2017, to share with us all about gratitude – in particular, invoking the power of gratitude as a wellness strategy.

Carolyn Flower is author of the best selling book Gravitate 2 Gratitude. She and I attended a conference in California, where we gravitated to each other and we’ve been connected ever since. Carolyn is the chief creative officer at Carolyn Flower International and has been a member of the professional communication industry for over 25 years. She’s a best-selling author and the founder of the Pathways to Publishing Academy for Independent Authors and an expert on the topic of gratitude. Carolyn is a brilliant woman, but more than that, she’s a beautiful soul and when I speak to Carolyn her energy and attitude always calm me down and make me feel full. What’s your secret Carolyn?

It’s gratitude. An attitude of gratitude; a quality of gratitude; a life strategy of gratitude.

Here’s what Carolyn shared with us about the Power of Gratitude.

Gratitude as a Wellness Strategy

“I consider gratitude as a foundation of life. Like a moral compass or a code of ethics. It is the groundwork from which everything is built.

We’re not strangers to the concept of gratitude; we have all identified with it at one time or another. However, what would it be like to live in a state of gratitude more often? I call that the ‘grace’ of gratitude and this happens when we make a conscious choice to focus our attention on what we have already been blessed to receive – to recognise and appreciate what is bestowed upon us, already. On the flip side, we are also encouraged to notice what our challenges have taught us that we may not have learned without them. How did we learn and grow from those experiences? Sometimes we don’t understand the significance unless we are connecting with our inner guidance; unless we are paying attention. Sometimes, we don’t understand the significance for years to come.

Feeling grateful isn’t an external force. It begins with us, in us, which means we have the power to choose its very existence. Gratitude comes to us from our internal forces while the external forces present us with an ever-evolving lifeline to change and experiences to draw from. How we choose to respond to each situation determines our growth and ultimately, our transformation. When our lens reflects abundant thoughts, it makes it much easier to respond to perceived setbacks. We won’t be put off because our growth is coming from within us. We are, in essence, creating ourselves, anew. We are expanding our awareness to the gifts of life, in whatever form they show up. When our thought environment nurtures us, our outer world responds accordingly; inevitably, the results of each and every situation will shift to support us.

Gratitude wellness is all about how gratitude can be a powerful life force if we choose to become aware of what we’re grateful for and to focus our attention more on that, instead of complaining about what we don’t have or what’s missing in our lives. Remember – energy flows where attention goes, and whatever we’re devoting our energy and thoughts to, is what will be reflected in our feelings and experiences.

Gratitude is Contagious

Gratitude creates a shift that is very powerful and immediate. Being grateful for what you already have will attract more for which to be grateful. The abundance that you recognise will be the abundance that you receive. So if we choose to feel gratitude and appreciation for something, it grows in value. We notice more things like it and we have a compounding effect, operating in our favour.”

The No. 1 Roadblock to feeling Grateful and how we can Avoid it

The main roadblock to feeling grateful is the belief that dwelling on a problem, worrying and complaining about it, creates more relief and more tangible results than adopting an attitude of gratitude would.

In difficult times many of us just want our problems fixed. We find it almost impossible, or even counterproductive, to take our mind off our urgent issues, switch our mind over to thankful, grateful and appreciative thoughts- such as – I’m grateful for my children, for my health, for my country.

It’s really not that we are ungrateful people deep down, it’s just that when feelings of sadness or overwhelm or disappointment loom so large, we just have no headspace for all the good stuff. We only see the problems and feel the pain. Our focus is just on how to solve these problems, in order to rid ourselves of the stress!

We’ve all been in a rut, at some point. We tell ourselves that complaining makes us “feel better.” I suppose for that very short burst of venting energy, it might open the escape valve on the accumulated frustration and stress in a situation — well-deserved, we think, but it really doesn’t boast any health benefits. Actually, in the purest sense of chronic complainers, it’s a colossal waste of valuable time on earth. It deprives our mind, our body, and our spirit. It steals from us. It stands in our way as a roadblock to positive results, as it is impossible to complain and feel grateful at the same time.

Being out of the grace of gratitude by habitually complaining, gets in the way of happiness and productivity because it keeps us trapped. It’s like suffocating gratitude. We are sabotaging our own success. The way to break the cycle is to refocus the lens and use the power of gratitude and the practice of gratitude, to end it.

The Top 4 Wellness Benefits of Gratitude.

1. A consistent (even inconsistent) gratitude practice is good for your health, and there are mountains of research to support it. Anything that allows us to unplug, refocus, re-align, reprogram, rethink, reimagine, replenish, renew… has to have some merit.

2. Expressing thanks and receiving expressions of thanks make us feel better. When we give thanks, we are creating opportunities for better relationships and cultivating personal and professional bonds, as this habit makes others feel appreciated. Kindness matters, shown to us and our showing it in return.

3. Research proves that having a purposeful focus on gratitude and giving thanks benefits us physically and psychologically as expressing gratitude reduces our attachment to a wide range of toxic and negative emotions linked to anxious feelings and depression. Feeling better about ourselves overall and the life we are living (and that does not mean it’s a perfect life) provides us with more energy to tend to ourselves and others. We feel more empathy and compassion for ourselves and others.

4. When we make it a habit to feel grateful and appreciative, it increases our awareness of good things as they happen. A mindset of gratitude has positive effects on our mood. When we fill up the cup of others, we fill our own up as well. When we amplify the good, we kick to the curb the need to complain about what we may not have. Positive emotions lead to positive outcomes.

YOUR GRATITUDE WELLNESS PRACTICE.

1) Decide to begin a 30-day Gratitude journaling practice. This can be on a sticky note that you drop in to a jar labelled “gratitude jar”, or on a pad of paper or notebook. Whatever you choose is fine, but the preference is that it be a new notebook, and that it be dedicated only to this practice. This is now your sacred space to write.

2) As a mindset cleanse, pay attention to the thoughts you are thinking. What is the language you are using and messages that you are conveying to yourself? Are you expressing gratitude toward yourself and others? Are there any road blocks coming up to prevent you from writing in your Gratitude Journal or adopting an Attitude of Gratitude? Now that you are more aware, the next time a non-supportive or habitual negative thought comes into your mind, interrupt it, and replace it with the opposite and positive-minded thought.

For example:
I don’t have the time / I’ll adjust my schedule to allow for it

It’s not for me / I’m ready to try something new

I am not good at writing / Ten minutes a day won’t kill me

Why bother? / I know this will benefit my health

3) Your Daily Gratitude Practice looks like this:

a. Decide on the place where you are most comfortable to enjoy your gift to yourself of quiet-time. SACRED SPACE.

b. Decide on the time of day that works best for you, perhaps as you wake or before you rest at the end of the day. SACRED TIME.

c. Choose your favourite pen or pencil. Get your Gratitude Journal out. SACRED TOOLS.

d. Write two questions:

What am I grateful for?

What was the BEST part of my day?

e. Write as little or as much as you feel. Don’t judge yourself and don’t erase. Just write. (Prepare to be amazed – if you write daily, you will find a huge difference in the amount of gratitude you’ll write from Day 1 to Day 30). If you feel as good as I know you will, start again.