Cultivate Your Grateful Heart

To be honest, I woke up grumpy on Friday morning. In my head I was complaining about all the things wrong in my life. Nothing happened and there was no real reason to be upset. I could see the swirl of negative thoughts and unfulfilled expectations. I basically created my own sadness and funk. FOR NO REASON!! 

Do you do this to yourself too?

To be super honest and vulnerable, I’ve experienced mild to moderate depression. My default way of thinking shows up as “something’s wrong” or “I’m not enough” or “what do I need to do next!?” It all comes from past-based stories I made up about myself. I know these fears and stories are not true and don’t need to define me. But they still seem to show up consistently.

It takes something for me to transform a disempowered mindset to an empowering one. But the more personal development work I do, the more I know it’s possible and that I can cultivate transformational tools.

In a previous post I shared that I hike a local mountain every single day. On my hikes I have a few gratitude checkpoints. Like when I walk through a specific set of trees, no matter what I am thinking, I choose gratitude. When I get to the top of the butte and look at the snowy Cascade mountains, I practice gratitude. If I am experiencing angst over a certain person, I think of five things I love about them.

For me gratitude is one of the most accessible tools to transforming a disempowering mindset to an empowering one. 

Check out this video of my top transformational takeawaysfrom hiking everyday.

The rest of my Friday and entire weekend was so awesome. I didn’t “do” anything special. I hung out in my backyard a lot, read, wrote, and listened to music. Nothing mind blowing. At some point I was even dancing in my kitchen!

You see, nothing external changed for me that day. My circumstances didn’t change. The only thing that shifted was my mindset and energy. My daily and regular gratitude work transformed me and impacted the rest of my day and my entire weekend.

I am cultivating a grateful heart❤️ 

Challenge for the week: Develop a “gratitude checkpoint.” Whether it’s when you wake up, before you go to bed, walk through a doorway, or walk through two specific trees😁, think about what you are grateful for and feel into the energy of it. See how that impacts your day!

P.S. On Saturday I received a book in the mail called, The Magic, by Rhonda Byrne. Have you read it? It’s a 28 day gratitude practice to create a magical life. Can’t wait to share more about my experience (or get the book and join me!)