Time to come clean... Last week's Tool was a bit of a challenge for me to fully understand and grasp. I don't think that I have fully wrapped my head around it despite spending time reading about it and then writing about it. On to a new week now, and... Tool #4 is my favorite! It is the easiest for me to grasp because it is a tool that I use frequently. Be aware though, just because it is my favorite does not mean that it will be your favorite!
Stutz and Michels call our fourth tool "The Grateful Flow." If you have read even a handful of these newsletters over the past 15 years then you know that I LOVE to talk about gratitude. We focus on gratitude in our office and in our home. Every Freedom Strength Kettlebell class finishes with each participant giving us one thing that they are grateful for before they leave the office.
The authors talk about how we all experience moments of negativity in our lives. To depict this negativity they use the image of a black cloud hanging over our heads. Staying under that cloud often prevents us from seeing the best of what is around us. However, we can use the power that comes from focusing on the things in our lives that we are grateful for to break through that Dark Cloud to see the sunshine on the other side. Once you have broken through the dark clouds focusing on the good things in your life gets easier.
Are you wondering how you can incorporate a practice of gratitude into your everyday life? Make it simple. Start with spending 30 seconds during your morning routine, or during your morning commute, to think of 5 things that you are grateful for. Don't just fly through the list. Pause for a moment with each thing. Make sure that the list is unique every morning. The list can include people you are grateful for, or things that you appreciate. It can be the weather, the roof over your head, the birds singing... It can be ANYTHING that you appreciate for making your life a little better.
Taking the time to focus on the positive things in our lives allows us to move past the negative things that will likely occur along the way.
