Welcome to Life Unedited Sanctuary.
Where reality happens.
I'm Tiffany,
A reality therapist and fanatic practitioner of gratitude.
This is a little bit on.
Choosing gratitude.
Because why not?
Choosing gratitude seems almost banal,
Doesn't it?
I mean,
In our current world,
Why and how would I choose gratitude?
Choose gratitude.
Is like a platitude.
Oh my gosh,
I just noticed that that rhymes.
I'm sorry.
Choosing gratitude is like a platitude that lacks meaning and is used all too often by people who seem to have it all in order.
Let's not judge and diss on gratitude so quickly.
How about we explore choosing gratitude as a viable option to not choosing it?
Because why not?
I have a lot of strong,
Passionate feelings about the practice of gratitude,
All of them positive.
My practice began in my late 20s after reading the Celestine Prophecy and The Secret.
Both of these books talk about the fact that everything in the universe is energy,
And energy can be positive and negative.
I knew this.
However,
It felt like I was learning this through new eyes,
From a different perspective,
With an open heart.
And it really hit home with me in a profound way.
Okay,
So not only is everything in the universe energy,
Which can be positive or negative,
We can also see and feel energy.
Most of us have heard of auras.
They are the energy fields surrounding everything.
There are folks who are more sensitive to energy and can see auras.
Even if we aren't adept at seeing energy in that manner,
We have probably all had an experience of feeling energy.
An example of this is walking into a room of people and feeling the stress or heaviness.
That's the energy radiating off of those in the room and having an effect on the overall energy of the space and those in it.
In The Secret,
Rhonda Byron writes about the Law of Attraction.
This is the belief that positive attracts positive,
And negative attracts negative.
In the book,
It's about positive thoughts manifesting positive outcomes,
And similarly for negative thoughts.
When we very intentionally inject positivity into our thoughts,
Hopes,
And wants.
And put that positivity out into the universe,
The universe responds to it in kind by sending corresponding energetic experiences into our lives.
There's a little bit more to it than that.
In reality therapy,
This practice includes putting the positive request out into the universe and then letting go of it.
Giving it over completely without expectation.
Pure trust in the universe to respond as it will,
When it will.
That's a mouthful and deserves to be teased apart with an example.
First,
Putting a positive request out into the universe.
I wish I had a car so I can drive to and from work.
Then we go to work and mention to a colleague that we really could benefit from having a car.
Second.
Giving the request over to the universe.
We made our request,
Maybe even just in thought,
And in this example,
A second time in a chat with a colleague.
And then we let it go and move forward throughout our day.
Not having an expectation.
After putting our request out there and letting it go,
It is no longer ours and we do not have any expectations around it.
Finally,
Trust the universe will meet our needs.
Next thing we know it,
Our co-worker stops us and offers to carpool with us.
Technically,
We got a vehicle to get us to and from work.
It might not be our own car,
Yet it meets our immediate needs.
So what does all of that have to do with practicing gratitude?
Gratitude is the intentional part of the request to the universe.
It is the deep feeling within us that believes in our request all the way down to our cells.
Somewhere through my practice,
I learned to be grateful for requests as if we already have them,
Like paying it forward.
Using the example above.
We could change the,
I wish I had a car so I can drive to and from work request to,
I'm grateful I have a car to drive to and from work.
I also learned that our wording is important.
In the four agreements,
Don Miguel Ruiz's first of those four agreements is to be impeccable with your words.
This is a perfect place to practice.
Our gratitude statement is to be worded positively.
For example,
If our request involves stopping a particular behavior that does not serve us,
Like maybe using alcohol,
Then we could say,
I'm grateful I am alcohol free,
Rather than,
I'm grateful I quit drinking.
I have a very intentional nightly gratitude practice where I turn off my light,
Get comfy in bed,
And starting at the beginning of my day,
I say all the things that took place throughout the day that I am grateful for.
I include any difficult or uncomfortable events as well,
Because those were learning bumps.
I end with three core statements.
I'm grateful for happy,
Healthy,
Well-behaved dogs for my three fur girls.
I'm grateful for a thriving private practice for my counseling business.
And I'm grateful for unexpected money in the mail.
Because why not?
I've had this practice for longer than I can remember,
And I am blessed with a great deal of positivity in my life.
I couple my bedtime ritual with sprinkles of gratitude throughout my day.
I'm grateful for green lights,
Whenever I see crows,
Because I love them,
And good parking spaces.
My friends tease me that we always get good parking spaces because of me.
This practice has helped me build a habit of looking for positive throughout my days so that I can be grateful for those things.
Logistics and my personal experiences aside,
Choosing to be grateful helps us to look for the positive in a difficult world.
It can help derail and alleviate worry by being grateful for the best possible outcome when we are spiraling in a loop of worst-case scenarios.
It reframes difficult,
Uncomfortable,
Or challenging situations into learning experiences.
It changes negative energy to positive energy,
And it is like sending out a little thank you prayer to the universe each time we practice.
