Shifting the Crap: A Simple List of Gratitude
Melbourne, contemplating my gratitude for paper
I woke up this morning feeling a bit bleech (and no, not from drinking too much last night). It was more of the world’s-caving-in variety. Eyebrows covered in sweat about finances, trying to determine exactly how I’m gonna pay some bills; the amount of work I need to get done in the next 10 days in order to pay a fraction of those bills; feeling the need to be out and social as a way of dealing with break-up, and yet that cuts into work-to-pay-bills time. Ugh.
So I decided it was time to try and turn around that ugly, downtrodden point-of-view real darn quick by completing a very simple task: writing down a list of simple things I’m grateful for. Gratitude lists are powerful stuff, and are probably the quickest way to get a perspective change. They don’t make everything a-ok!, but they do provide a dose of all the good stuff in your life that you can’t seem to see over the large piles of shit currently in front of you. Although mine didn’t quite get to where the money is going to come from, it certainly made this day a bit easier to face.
Here’s my list:
- My cat Greysey climbing across my chest and leaning his head on my shoulder
- That in my sometimes cold-even-in-the-summer apartment, I can turn the heat on (so many people in the world never have heat)
- My body is healthy, and can handle so much
- I can experience love, and heartbreak
- I can give love
- I am a powerful woman
- I have shelter, and won’t find myself on the street anytime soon
- I am strong
- Friends reach out to me in my time of need
- I have the ability to help others
- Anything is possible
Feel free to add one, two, or ten things you are grateful for in the comments below.
Share and Enjoy
About the Author
Christine Garvin holds a Masters degree in Holistic Health Education and is a certified Nutrition Educator. She is co-editor of Confronting Love and has written for a variety of health, travel, and relationship sites and magazines. When she is not writing, she gives wellness consultations and choreographs and performs hip-hop and bhangra routines. She currently calls Black Mountain, NC home. Follow her on Twitter @livingwholesoul or on her FB page.
I am going to make my list this afternoon.
I’m grateful:
That I know the power of music as my body moves and my feet hit the ground.
…..which is something I need to remember everyday.
I read this post this morning and made my list in my journal over lunch. I really needed this today. Thank you.
@Sam – beautiful.
@JoAnna – Glad (well, not really) to know I wasn’t the only one in a funk. Hope it helped.
plus that’s a damn cute picture!
i am grateful for you Christine!!
i am grateful for $7.95 Indian buffet
for my warm coat
for the comparative wealth i enjoy daily
for clean tap water
for strong women
for dedicated friends
for kate winslet
for over-ripe mangos
Loved this post and a much-needed reminder to count one’s blessings often.
Lola posted this link in my latest post http://carlo-alcos.com/2010/05/26/inside-the-mind-of-a-serial-grump/
And again, she’s right (I hate it when she’s right
I am grateful for so many things: my health, my wife, my opportunities, as well as all those simple little things we take for granted everyday like Josh points out: clean water, roof over my head, food.
But most of all: espresso coffees.
@Kara, you’re sweet.
@Josh, i’m also grateful for you! plus indian buffets, fer reals. Mmmm, I’m getting hungry…
@Lola, I feel like you are great at doing that.
@Carlo, yeah, I’m kinda a closeted grump. That’s why doing stuff like this helps!
Leave your response!
Quick Hits
Pinkwashing and the Susan G. Komen Foundation
Daily Caffeine Does Impact Women’s Hormones
Friday’s Question and Answer Session: Do I Need Vitamin B12 Supplements?
“Every time I see a yoga instructor pushing the weight loss benefits of yoga, I cringe.”
Ladies, Love Your Tree
Friends