“Be grateful for what you have” was a mantra I often heard when growing up, but it was said usually when ever you complained about anything. The subtext seemed to be that you had to grin and bear it, put your best foot forward and adopt a stiff upper lip and stop whining about your lot (How very British!).
Sara Ban Breathnach changed our way of looking at gratitude through her books on Simple Abundance. We saw the connection between gratitude and our mental well being. A whole movement was revamped .
It had always been there since we were told to ‘give thanks’ in all of the religious and spiritual teachings. But somehow it was re-framed and we embraced it.
I bought the books and dabbled with it, more like a fad, a new self help flavor for me to try out. Yes, I was fickle!
Once I started as a Dieter in Recovery it became a vital piece in my recovery. Years of self abuse had left me with a very distorted view of my body. There was nothing I felt grateful for in regards to my body. This time I embraced gratitude, making it a daily practice.
At first I struggled and it felt a little strange, a little forced. And later, much later, it has become an integral and very necessary part of my life. The healing could not have happened without it. It is essential part of self care and supports all the other tools that assist with my mental well being.
With a mindfulness practice the gratitude deepened.
Being grateful and giving thanks has a wonderful boomerang effect. Life is so much more pleasant.
Internal validation is the best. Yes, it is lovely to get external validation, but when we appreciate and feel blessed from inside this stays. It carries you through the darker times. It is another way we express love to ourselves, another form of loving kindness.
My routine with gratitude is to wake up and say a couple of things to start my day. always say thanks for the breath I have and the ease of breathing. Having had asthma attacks, I never take for granted having full working lungs. I work through my body and say thanks for it.
When I had a clothing store and helped to style people, I would always ask the same question “tell me what you love about your body”. Often the person would pause and many times would tell me what she hated about her body. So much venom would spill out. I knew it well, as it was the same dialogue I had with myself.
We have become used to the negative self hatred. To recovery it has to stop. Pay attention to the mind dialogue.
Notice when you do it, is it after watching TV, or doing too much social media? If we feed our body junk food we get sick, if we feed our mind junk food we get sick. Let’s top up with the good stuff. And always be grateful for exactly where you are. Gratitude is all about the present.
At this moment love your body and be grateful for all it does. When I was battling a lot of negativity around my body appearance I started with gratitude for what it did for me. That is how I learned to love it. I appreciated being able to move my body … yes, that is a gift. As a hospital employee I see people every day who have difficulty moving, so I know the ability to move is huge.
Being grateful is a choice. Open up to what you have and say Thanks.
It will change your life.
Thanks for reading,
Christina