Good morning,
I'm Susan Guttridge and I'm so happy to have you here starting your day with me.
Before we begin,
Take a moment to stretch,
Breathing new energy into every part of your body.
Let's draw in another deep breath together.
And when ready,
Exhale slowly,
Allowing yourself to peacefully arrive in this new day.
Before the world rushes in,
Before the tasks and the noise and the weight of the day settles upon your shoulders,
There is this moment,
This still quiet moment,
Where you get to choose how you want to meet the day.
This morning,
I invite you to open to the possibility of gratitude.
This can be as subtle as simply noticing with a smile the soothing warmth of your cup of coffee in your hands.
We can invite gratitude into these small unfolding moments.
I believe gratitude is not about pretending everything is perfectly fine or that life is entirely going according to plan,
But rather about those tender moments of remembering that even here,
Even now,
In this precious moment,
There is always something good,
Something to appreciate.
Take another breath in,
Slowly releasing it out.
Feel the weight of your body supported by the bed or the surface beneath you.
Now bring your awareness to the simple,
Often overlooked things around you.
That steady rhythm of your breath,
The comfortable support beneath you,
Perhaps the soft,
Cozy warmth of your blankets or sheets if you're still in bed,
Wrapped around you like a hug.
Or perhaps the way the morning light finds its way into the room.
Allow your senses to guide you.
What do you see,
Hear,
Feel?
And now,
Could you bring to mind three things that you feel grateful for in this moment?
They don't have to be grand.
In fact,
Let them be tiny.
The smaller,
The simpler,
Often the better.
Let each one settle into your heart.
Notice what softens as this gratitude takes root there in your heart.
If it's okay,
You could whisper to yourself,
In this moment,
I choose to notice what is good.
I choose to begin my day with an open heart of gratitude.
For your call to action today,
I'd like to invite you to keep your eyes open and your heart open and curious for those things that you might be grateful for.
Those small,
Sometimes overlooked moments of grace.
May you allow yourself to be delightfully surprised by joy.
And should your mind begin to spiral into thoughts of what's missing,
May you gently guide it back to what is here,
To what is enough.
To what is kind,
To what holds beauty.
Gratitude is not a rigid task to be completed.
It's a profound and tender way of seeing the world.
Today,
May you see your day through grateful eyes.
Thank you so much for being here.
Be well today.
