I’m learning to be more aware of all my emotions. I’m aware of joy, relief, anger, frustration, and pain. Awareness helps focus inward. I am also trying to become more aware of my surroundings. I try not to miss the sound of birds, the smell of rain and even the stink of garbage (something I might want to miss, but can’t!). Awareness leads to mindfulness. Mindfulness is accepting everything within and around me exactly as it is. This leads to gratitude. So in my mind, awareness mindfulness and gratitude cannot be separated. You can’t have one without the other two.
Mindfulness is the practice of accepting our lives exactly as they are without having to change anything. It is gratitude—not as an emotion to be manufactured, but as a basic acknowledgment that each moment of life is enough, no matter what our experience. Some moments are pleasant, some unpleasant. Some are painful, some are filled with joy. Through all of our moments, we have what we need.
– Irene Kraegel
Awareness Mindfulness and Gratitude
What holds me back from mindfully noticing all that I have to be grateful for? When I choose to pause from time to time to notice myself, others, and the world with greater mindful awareness, I feel much more gratitude. Sometimes I have failed to notice a kind deed. At other times, I have failed to see the love and concern behind an action or words that seem harsh. Often I take the beauty of nature or the crazy boisterous behaviour of our dogs for granted. We all have far more in our lives for which to experience and express authentic gratitude than we realize. In the past, I’ve written about what I call radical gratitude – gratitude not for all the good things, but for every experience, including the unpleasant ones. Of late I’ve getting a lot of chances to be grateful for things that aren’t going well on the surface, trusting that all things are working together for my good. The trick is to make the choice to open our eyes and start noticing life with greater mindful awareness.
Here are the things I am mindfully grateful for from the week:
- A big blessing which I can’t really share, but it has lifted a great weight off our shoulders.
- Being able to go back to work on a more regular basis.
- The generosity and support of an old friend.
- Clarity of mind when dealing with two individuals who separately tried to lay guilt on me.
- My loving and most supportive husband who had a birthday on 8th October and celebrating it with a lovely meal.
What are you grateful for today?
Join me and other bloggers every Thursday for the #everydaygratitude link up – to share all you are grateful for from the past week.
Belated birthday wishes to your hubby, dear Corinne. You are right, feeling gratitude for unpleasant moments to is really appreciable gesture to lift your well being.
I find practising gratitude makes me aware of how much more I’m recieving than giving, on a daily basis. That alone makes me feel so much better!
Stopping, observing and acknowledging each experience brings gratitude. Iam grateful today as i took a walk in the afternoon and visited a friend’s place.
You’re right in that we would benefit from practising gratitude even when things are not so great because in the end, even the most unpleasant experiences bring about change in us.