Hi there,

I've been revisiting my gratitude practice over the past few months to intentionally choose to focus on all the GOOD and JOY that is in my world. I'll have to admit that it's never been a challenge up until this year to change some thought patterns. I took this as an invitation to go deeper in my practice--maybe there was something (or things) I was overlooking...

And you know what I found? I realized that part of why I was struggling with my gratitude practice, was that I was not giving myself enough space to honor the difficult things. In other words, in trying to focus so much on the GOOD and JOY, I was actually neglecting parts of me, parts that needed tending. Because when my child falls and hurts her knee, I don't say "stop crying about your knee! Think of your other, perfectly fine knee!!" Because doing so would invalidate their pain and therefore...cause more pain. For the same reason, we have to acknowledge and validate our own pain.

What I am saying is, you can hold BOTH.

You can be grateful and honor the hard times.
You can be grateful and want more.
You can be grateful and angry, or sad, or struggling.

To take it even a step further, I've started being grateful for some of these "not so good" feelings themselves! I know that may sound weird, but just hear me out. With deepening my practice of listening to my body over the past decade + I have learned that these feelings + emotions are all messages; they are signaling me, trying to tell me something. When I listen to the pain, frustration and anger, it is all leading me to my true north, to what's aligned and to where I need to be. So I am grateful for my body's wisdom to show me the way, even when it manifests in sticky, heavy emotions.

I'm curious if any of this resonates with you? Or if it gives you a new perspective on gratitude lists?

xo,

Christine