Grassroots Gratitude – Knowing. Growing. Showing.
Poet and wise elder, Mary Oliver offers “Instructions for Living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
I think these instructions remind us to find the things that light you up and bring you joy; pay attention to those things that bring you closer to your life’s purpose. These simple instructions are echoes to my Grassroots Gratitude mantra: Know it. Show it. Grow it.
Céline Williams, leadership coach and podcast host told me that one of her clients had a gratitude practice that felt trite and repetitive. Apparently, the client was going through the motions of writing gratitude lists, without feeling any joy. So, he stopped what he was doing – and started writing down everything that happened that day. After writing out the full story, he focused on one single thing that he could identify as being exciting or magical or energizing.
How perfect!
Céline identified his story as aligning with the practices that I describe in my book “An Ecology of Gratitude: writing your way to what matters.” In order to honestly find what’s going well, we often need to understand that there is a whole lot of energy being sucked by what is going wrong. It’s like a downward comparison of “me vs. me” and then, intentionally landing on a place of ‘me supporting me’, by articulating the things that matter – the things that are life affirming and wonderful.
Gratitude is about being your own best friend. Gratitude also helps us become better leaders, partners, friends and advocates. Gratitude is a motivator and energizer – and should never be used to deplete your energy. Gratitude should not bring guilt or shame or boredom. Gratitude, when it is a beneficial practice brings joy, creativity, resiliency, perspective and positivity. Does your gratitude tick all the right boxes?
Need more convincing? Find a journal and and a pen that appeals and label 10 pages, with 10 headings. Keep writing and noticing these 10 things for the next 90 days…
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- Things that are bugging me
- Things that are worrying me
- Things I am waiting for
- Things I am grateful for
- Things I am noticing
- Thank you notes I want to write
- Thank you’s I have received
- Things I refuse to worry about
- Things I want to have completed or stop doing between now and Thanksgiving
- Things I want to start doing before October
By noting the things that are taking your attention – good, bad, shiny and ugly – you can see which lists are longest, which lists are shortest.
Want more ideas?
- Pay attention: As you go about your day, notice one thing you want to remember and when your head hits the pillow after a busy day, ask yourself: “What is one simple moment of magic I noticed today?”
- Astonish yourself: Be ten minutes early for your next coffee date or bus ride stop or ticketed event. Congratulate yourself for being early and then take the time to look around, chat casually, and deeply reflect on this experience later. Instead of pulling out your cell phone, look around. Notice what’s happening and remember to reflect on it – before falling asleep or in your journal.
- Tell about it: What are you savouring? Is it a flavour, sight, smell, sound or feeling? Can you creatively describe that sensation and tell a new story – written or spoken word? You decide.
Gratitude. Know it. Show it. Grow it. Rain helps get our gratitude seeds rooted. Sunshine helps to get those roots to grow into shoots and stretch taller.
Living a life of gratitude means we will find sunshine after the rain. The stories we tell ourselves can make a world the difference. In order to help more people find more sun this summer, I am hosting a Gratitude Workshop series, starts July 20, check it out here: Summer 2022 workshop.
