What's Good???
Good Morning!!! Tuesday Gratitude Practice is here!!! How will you take what you are grateful for through the rest of your day? This isn't just about writing it down and sending it back… put it out there! Let the world feel your appreciation! Let's make a difference.
This only takes a few moments to do but gives to you for much, much longer. So put down whatever you are doing and take a couple of minutes for yourself. Every Tuesday morning I am going to ask you to write down 5 things that you are grateful for and email them to me (keep for yourself as well). What are you feeling gratitude around? Here are mine for this week:
Tea. Dreaming BIG. Big Dreams Coming True. Fall Days. Working From Home.
There are no right or wrong answers. It is about what you are grateful for. It is proven that doing this once a week makes you happier, healthier, exercise more and less sensitive to perceived slights. You will sweat the small stuff less and focus on what really matters.
So… what are you waiting for???
Food for thought:
It is a rare day where someone tells me to work harder, do more or simply just tell me that it is awesome that I don't sleep very much because I am following my calling. More often than not I am told, in so many words, to be mediocre. My focused attention to doing what I am passionate about, what calls to me, at the level that I am happy with (heading towards perfection) tends to bring up for others how they would or wouldn't do what I do. If someone needs sleep and they see that I don't get it, they tell me that I need it. If someone doesn't have passion for their work, they let me know that I need to work less. It is so not the norm to set and reach goals that don't have immediate gratification. Vision is rarely encouraged until people have proof, or the vision is now a thing in the world.
Generally people don't understand what it takes to dream big and realize those dreams. Everything in the world that we use, that we take for granted, was a dream, was created and didn't exist at some point. Usually, dreams aren't nurtured in most; honestly, dreams are discouraged and belittled more than they are encouraged. We tell children to slow down, be careful, don't risk. We ask our peers to do less, chill out, have fun! Because people compare themselves to one another so aggressively there is a lot of holding back of each other so as to not feel left behind, whether consciously or unconsciously. It comes up with my clients all of the time when they embark on a journey to lose weight and get healthy after years of being overweight and oftentimes miserable. As soon as they begin to change in the direction of their goals they are asked or warned by their family and friends to not "overdo" it. When someone suffers a heart attack after years of food and drug (smoking, alcohol, etc) abuse few, if anyone, tell them that it was because they overdid it in the negative. Mediocrity, unhealthy, and abusive behaviors are fostered in so many ways that most don't want to acknowledge because they would, in turn, have to change themselves.
It may be a good idea to take a look at how you support your family and friends. Pay attention to what you say and how you judge the drive of others. What scares you about someone being obsessive about their dreams? What does it bring up for you? The real lesson is in your paying attention to how you feel about someone doing the extraordinary… what comes up for you when someone leaps towards something that isn't practical or normal? When we can allow ourselves, and others, to go after the biggest, scariest and most difficult thing without criticism, we may begin to see some immediate improvement in all of our lives. Let people be great with your support instead of succeeding despite not getting it.
xo a