It is said that we have access to 60,000 possible emotional states. That’s a big buffet to choose from! But so often we get stuck in a limited array. Let’s expand that. Here’s one way: being in a state of gratitude and appreciation is one of the highest states one can achieve, and it’s available all the time, everywhere, to everyone.

The other morning I was rushing to get one of my kids to where they needed to go. The snow was falling lightly, the sun was rising. I jumped in the car and drove as fast as was legal to the drop-off, talking about arrangements all the way. I said goodbye, breathed a sigh of relief once more for achieving ‘responsible mother’ status and turned around to head back home.

As I did, a small voice inside me said “Stop, pause…. relax.” As I did, I made a conscious decision to appreciate everything I could on the way home. What happened next amazed me, but it really shouldn’t. The lake was beautiful, covered with ice. The snow fell gently on the trees. Birds flew and danced all around, I almost went off the road watching them. Trees, people, dogs, my car, my music, it really was all a miracle. And it’s happening around us all the time when we slow down, pay attention on purpose, and appreciate.

I tried to carry this through the rest of my day as best as I could, but what I noticed was how many times I slipped into auto-pilot and life, once more, passed me by. The thing about gratitude is that is is free and it is endless…. a longer hug with someone, an extra breath before eating a meal, a moment to appreciate the sky, putting on a piece of clothing you love, really tasting the layers in that tea/coffee, gazing at a flower like it was the first time you ever saw one, really looking into a child’s eyes.

Right now, look around you. What can you appreciate that someone created or that nature made?  Yup.. there is a lot. My fave practice these days is Breathe-Body-Love:

Breathe: take 2-3 deeper breaths in and exhale

Body: feel the body you are in, get out of the head! I like to feel my feet

Love: Find something to love about you, or in your surroundings…. feel the shift.

For a video on this go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjAkdvhlsiQ

Imagine if the whole world was doing this… what a different place it would be. Be the one that does it 🙂

I’ll include this further article by Jack Canfield on 6 specific ways to cultivate gratitude in your life. Here it is: http://pendulumsummit.com/6-daily-gratitude-habits-will-attract-abundance-joy-life-jack-canfield/

You won’t regret it.

Have a great week,

Madeleine