I looked out and saw life in my back yard, lily pads growing over themselves, lilies in full bloom. What do I see when I look inside myself?
Do You Give The Gift of Gratitude To Everyone But Yourself?
What do you notice?
What do you notice in others?
What do you notice in yourself?
What do you notice in your surroundings?
What do you notice in your thoughts?
What do you notice in your body?
What do you notice right now?
We have been having our luscious desert monsoons. Every evening the sky opens up and rain drenches the dry desert landscape. Last week I walked out into my back yard and for a second I noticed the weeds: mustard weed, tree of heaven, purple nightshade. But then my attention was drawn thoroughly to my pond. It is a verdant paradise in the desert. Water lily pads taking up nearly every surface of the water, growing over themselves for sun. Water lilies blooming, opening wide to take in the rays. Goldfish swimming, dragonflies and wasps flying, toads resting under the long arching stems of vinca. I noticed the life, the potential, the beauty.
Later that day I wrote a post about some insecurities I was having and the self-deprecating thoughts I had. I called those thoughts weeds: “And even with our positivity and gratitude and optimism and self-love there are a bunch of weeds in our thoughts as well.” Today as I reflect on gratitude I am reminded again that the most important step in practicing gratitude is noticing. What do we notice? What possibilities does that noticing create? What limitations does that noticing create? What does your noticing say about you?
This week give yourself the gift of your own gratitude. Start by noticing these three things today.
Notice the life inside your body.
(You are alive. You feel. You create and expend energy. You move.)
Notice the ways you’ve shown love today.
(For yourself, for someone you love, for a stranger, for the earth, for the world).
Notice one thing about yourself that you are proud of.
(What you spend energy on, your skills, your personality, your contributions)
If you find gratitude beyond the noticing, that’s a beautiful cherry on top.
And repeat.
What you notice is who you are, maybe.
~Dana Spiotta
What are you grateful to notice about yourself?
LEARNING: Some people were posting negatively about gratitude and I felt the need to reply. Actually, it wasn’t a need. I felt obligated. Which just seemed weird. I am not the defender of gratitude. Did I feel obligated because of my “Antonia TheGrateful” moniker? Was I worried about what people would think if I didn’t reply? I never want to think of gratitude as an obligation. It is a practice that I choose freely. No one is making me do it. And I don’t do it to keep up appearances. I do it because it helps me to grow, it is fulfilling, it is good for me. What a good reminder that I don’t have to be the defender of gratitude. I am called to practice it and learn from it, not to put it up on a pedestal.
FORGOTTEN GRATITUDE: Last week I was also grateful for roadrunners and raccoons running about on the street … Finding the receipt so i could return the shirt I hated … (and this one from two weeks ago) Upright bass on the street and on the beach.
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[su_note note_color=”#e7e7e7″ text_color=”#686767″ radius=”0″] My gratitude journey started in May 2011 and continues to this day. Thank you for being a part of it! A daily gratitude practice is simple. Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Download your free GratitudeGuide. My clients focus on gratitude and learn from their successes to make the positive changes they want in their lives. You can too. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336. [/su_note]