Gratitude Changes Everything
This week, I hosted a masterclass along with two of my coach colleagues titled, Gratitude Changes Everything. We have a quarterly subscription box service based on a theme (this box was gratitude). The box included items based on the theme as well as an invitation to a masterclass that reinforced the message.
When creating the masterclass we came to the table with different ideas and somehow landed on a few TedX talks we wanted to incorporate into the presentation, however, we couldn’t quite agree on which one we wanted to use. One of the coaches came to a meeting and stated she had been tossing and turning about what to use, especially since we had someone on our team that embodied gratitude. As she began her case, she was referring to me! WHAT?
I’ll admit, I’ve been practicing gratitude on a regular basis for several years, but didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary, as she described just the opposite. Again …. WHAT? ME? She replied, “You.” OK, tell us more. By the end of her proposal, we all agreed, the class would spotlight my gratitude journey and how it affected every aspect of my life.
As she began the interview, I decided to start my story when I first met her in January of 2016. Sharon and I were part of a four person mastermind that supported each of our personal and professional journeys. During 2016, we met twice a month for an hour and each person had the opportunity to speak. At the time, I had been in a very toxic work environment and recalled my allotted time was mostly voiced out of frustration and anger, as the other coaches listened, without judgement and were able to provide outside perspective.
We also created a signal, an SOS of sorts we could send out if anyone needed immediate support. I recalled one day everything around me felt like life was coming at me from all directions, and I was at the end of my patience. I raised the white flag, called in the calvary and prayed they’d respond. Within minutes, two of the three coaches were able to drop everything and meet at a local forest preserve.
We started on the trail and I began to spew……my frustration, anger, fear, overwhelm and any other negative emotion you can think of as my support team listened. I’m pretty sure I must have sounded like a lunatic to anyone passing on the the trail. At just about the half-way point, not one leg but both legs seized up. I was in so much pain I couldn’t walk. It was as if all the negativity that I was putting out in the universe was showing up in my legs to prove it to me.
That event was a defining moment in my life. I realized something needed to change fast. It was imperative to take control of my life rather than it control me. Because I believed everything happened for a reason, I stumbled upon the law of attraction and devoured everything I could find to read or watch. Having a gratitude practice was the first thing I committed doing. Each day I found anything and everything to be grateful for, and Sharon started seeing a new person in me emerge. She said I was lighter and brighter. I used all the events that would have made me angry and turned them around. What was it teaching me? How could I use the opportunity for my benefit? That simple shift changed my life.
It’s been since my experience on the trail that my gratitude journey began and I can say without a doubt, “gratitude changes everything.” I look for the goodness in the big and small. Actually, I believe the little things are more important. Being grateful in the ordinary sets us up for the extraordinary day. The more you acknowledge and are thankful for the blessings, the more they keep showing up in your life. How does gratitude show up in your life?
xoxox…..Sheryl
Gratitude Ideas:
Gratitude journal
Gratitude jar (fill with written blessings)
Gratitude letters (write a letter to someone you’re grateful for)
Carry a “gratitude” rock in your pocket (each time you touch it think of one thing)
Gratitude tree (fill the branches with blessings)
Gratitude walk (notice nature around you)
Gratitude reflection (think of everyone and everything you’re grateful for)
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