Gratitude's the attitude

As we head into this holiday weekend, seeing friends and family (chosen or given), or choosing to decompress by ourselves, there is a lot of talk about gratitude.
I know- 🤮 . It’s a word that gets thrown around almost as much as “narcissist”.

But what can I say? I’m one of them.😉 I tout the benefits of meditation and gratitude because I know first hand that they work.

I have a daily practice of emailing a friend a list of gratitudes and I can't tell you how profound it is. Even when it doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything, I notice a difference on days when I send the email vs. when I don’t.

Every day I look at life through the lens of what will I be adding to my list and so the opportunities to find things to be grateful for are boundless. I try to be as specific as I can and NOT to repeat too often.

I used to work with a coach who had me write a list of 30 things every day that never repeated. It made me get so creative with my gratitudes. By the end I was writing things like, “my legs that carry me from place to place” or “the smell of honeysuckle in the air”. I realized just how much I take for granted.

My list often looks like the following:
waking up and working out
the sun shining bright through my window
having a nice exchange with a stranger
laughing with a friend
that my body knows what to do without me having to think about it

I once heard someone say "You can't be angry and grateful at the same time. Try it.". Well, I've tried it and I found that it really is true.

What you focus on grows. When I am angry and only think about all the things making me angry, guess what? I stay angry. Get even angrier. When I focus on what I’m grateful for, the feeling of gratitude expands.

I know for me, I can lean towards thinking about what I don’t have and really stay in that lack mentality. This practice reminds me of all the greatness in my life and that I have so much to be thankful for.

Whether it's today or everyday, I hope seeing through the lens of gratitude is as profound for you as it has been for me. I am very grateful for YOU! For your support of me and my music. It really does mean so much to me.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

all my love,
Dana

p.s. write 3 things you’re grateful for in the comments below. Try to be as specific as you can. Let’s get this gratitude train started.