There are times when our whole world seems to be falling apart around us and we are not sure how to hold on any longer.
Sometimes it’s our physical environment, sometimes our relationships, and other times we can’t really define but we just feel lost, or in a vacuum. Nothing to lean on. Exposed and vulnerable.
When life is going well, gratitude allows us to celebrate and magnify the goodness. But what about when life goes badly? In the midst of this global pandemic and all its challenges, how can you feel grateful under such circumstances?
Research shows, that not only will a grateful attitude help, it is essential. It is exactly under hard conditions when we gain the most by a grateful perspective on life.
It doesn’t mean that the feeling of gratitude will come easily or naturally in such situations. It’s easy to feel grateful for good things. But who feels grateful when they lose their jobs or a beloved person’s life is taken by the pandemic?
There is, however, a difference between feeling grateful and being grateful. We can’t control our emotions – but we can control out thoughts.
Being grateful is a choice, an attitude. It is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. During difficult times gratitude can provide us with a different perspective, from which we observe life in its entirety and don’t get stuck by temporary circumstances.
Challenging times can awaken us not to take things for granted. Thanksgiving was born out of hard times. When times are good, we tend to take prosperity for granted and believe that we are unstoppable. In difficult times, we realize, that everything we have, we have counted on, might be taken away. Except for one thing: our power.
It doesn’t mean though, to simply count your blessings and remember how much you still have to be grateful for. This is not helping, actually.
Looking at life through a “grateful lens” means realizing your own power you have, to transform an obstacle into an opportunity. It means seeing life as it is, with its hardships and challenges and negativity. Power is to reframing a loss into a potential gain. Having gratitude for your own power.
These are the times to explore our sense of identity, safety and being. We usually see our sense of self in externals, any times these externals shift we have a chance to discover our inner self, our inner power. Our true home.
Your core is not affected by the changes of circumstances, cycles of change. It is steady and consistent. You just need to trust, that this inner core is there, your endless source of energy and power, and that you can always rely on this, even when you just don’t see it.
A way to see this power of your inner core is to look at all the challenging periods or situations in your life and see how you turned them around, how you came out of them and they helped you to grow.
Thus, when practicing gratefulness, think about yourself, your own creative power first. Thank yourself first. That you are always there for you. You have all the energy and power you need.
You are the star(t) of everything in your life. Be aware of this power and be grateful for that. It will change your perspective of gratefulness in life.
Stay safe & healthy
Love,
Eva