avatarSusie Pinon

Summary

The author shares their personal journey of learning to practice gratitude and how it transformed their life.

Abstract

The author of this article shares their personal journey of learning to practice gratitude and how it transformed their life. They admit to being a chronic complainer in the past, but after becoming aware of their negative mindset, they decided to make a change. The author met a group of women who inspired them with their positive language and genuine gratitude for life's simple pleasures. Through observing and adopting this mindset, the author began to feel authentic gratitude for everyday tasks and moments. They emphasize that gratitude can be found in everything we do and that it leads to a more fulfilling life. The author encourages readers to practice gratitude and shares their own experience of finding joy in simple things like the sun on their face or the sound of their dog's snorting.

Bullet points

  • The author admits to being a chronic complainer in the past and realizing that they were maintaining a vibration of lack.
  • The author met a group of women who inspired them with their positive language and genuine gratitude for life's simple pleasures.
  • The author began to feel authentic gratitude for everyday tasks and moments, such as sweeping the floor or driving.
  • The author emphasizes that gratitude can be found in everything we do and that it leads to a more fulfilling life.
  • The author encourages readers to practice gratitude and shares their own experience of finding joy in simple things like the sun on their face or the sound of their dog's snorting.

How Gratitude Shaped My Life For the Better

When I began to objectively look at all my life circumstances, it helped me to remember how lucky I am.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Over the years, I have tried and failed repeatedly at remembering to be grateful. It was something I wanted to incorporate into my daily life but was usually too busy complaining. I wanted to have a shift in perspective.

I know I am lucky to have access to all the resources, people, and opportunities that I do. I wanted to be more grateful, but I was struggling to actually feel the gratitude.

I began to pay close attention to the behaviors and attitudes of the people around me. I’ve heard that we are the average of the people we spend the most time with.

By the time I actively decided I wanted to be more grateful, I had transferred to a four-year institution and was exposed to a lot of new faces. I got the chance to carefully choose my community, and with an abundance of choices, I was led to a magical group of women that showed me a different way to live life.

Recognizing My Miserable Vibration

I considered myself a grateful person in the past. Looking back, I was existing on the vibration of misery. I was a chronic complainer and was unknowingly maintaining a vibration of lack. I was attracting more of the things, people, circumstances, and situations I was complaining about because it’s where my main focus resided.

I didn’t notice that I had been complaining so much until people started to bring it to my attention. They would say, “Why do you complain so much?” Mortified at the realization of my misery, I would respond by saying, “I don’t know, just making conversation.”

That’s when it hit me. I was ready to break the cycle and ancestral pattern of living my life as a constant complainer. I wasn’t really unhappy when I complained. I was just accustomed to expressing even the smallest of dissatisfaction because I was raised in an environment where everyone complained constantly.

Perhaps these people complained to gain validation for their pain or discomfort…I don’t know. Rather, they probably were raised the same way, blatantly unaware that the majority of their language was that of complaints.

The Practice of Rewiring

Refuting the complaints that pumped through my head was no easy task. Simply becoming aware of my complaints was the first step to recovery. It was no surprise at how unhappy I was after I spent some time observing my daily thoughts.

I figured that with all unlearning, it takes time. I knew that in order to discover lasting change and rewiring of my mind and psyche, I would have to chip away at my intrusive inner complainer, bit by bit.

When I met these women that I now know as my best friends, it was about the same time I decided to practice an inner shifting. I’m not one to believe in coincidences and truly believe that everything happens in divine timing. The more time I spent with these people, the more I noticed their very particular language.

My friend would say, “I’m so grateful for this moment. It’s so beautiful…”

At first, I was taken aback by this since I had never really surrounded myself with a group that spoke like this. I started to become aware of small moments that gave me joy, contentment, peace, or other pleasant feelings.

And in these brief memories in time, I started to voice, “Wow, I am so grateful for this moment,” and so on, depending on the event.

This was pure gratitude.

This was genuine peace.

This was how I began to channel everlasting love that overflowed within me.

And this love just continued to build up inside of me with more experiences that brought me such grace and wisdom.

I felt gratitude for the sun on my face, in the morning when I woke feeling rested, before, during, and/or after eating a meal, and so on. I felt authentic gratitude for monotonous life tasks like sweeping the floor, brushing my teeth, doing laundry, or driving.

I began to realize that gratitude can be found in literally everything we do. And what a wonderful way of life it soon transformed into and remains today.

Rerouting Repetitive Toxic Thoughts

I decided I no longer wanted to be miserable anymore, desperate and yearning to glimmers of pleasant memories I could hold onto until its vibrancy faded in my memory.

When I did this, nothing changed in my life. I was still a student in college, surrounded by similar people, had the same lifestyle habits, etc. The only thing that changed drastically was the way I looked at life.

Fast forward two years later, and each day I continue to become a little bit more grateful. Yes, I still complain, but I rarely verbalize it unless completely necessary. I have learned how to find the good in unpleasant or uncomfortable situations.

I have learned to adapt and take people, places, and things at face value. I have come to recognize the beauty of a moment in time and try to enjoy each moment for what it is.

Gratitude For Simple Things

As I sit here and type, I think of all the things I’m grateful for at this moment. I haven’t written an article in almost a month. Being able to take the time out to write my feelings down for the whole world to witness is freeing. I love that I have the ability to hear my fingers dance over my keys.

I’m grateful for the mustard sweater that hugs my body. It keeps me warm in a chilled home. I’m grateful for the water I sip that quenches a tired mouth that has been working all day. I’m grateful for the smell of food my mom prepares even though she is tired. She tells me to write because she knows how I’ve missed it. I am grateful for the sound of my dog’s snorting face as she gallops about and tilts her head to one side.

I am grateful for now. I am grateful for myself. I am grateful to be able to express my feelings, understand what makes me happy, attain fulfillment, and share this journey of life with others I love so deeply.

I am grateful to you for deeming my writing worthy enough to take up space in your mind, even if it be just for a moment.

Thank you.❤️

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Self Improvement
Mental Health
This Happened To Me
Life Lessons
Psychology
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