“It’s not happiness that brings us gratitude. It’s gratitude that brings us happiness.”
Unknown
It’s a simple truth. When you’re faced with a grey day, a good start is to look for the little bright spots. They may be difficult to find at first, but eventually they’ll reveal themselves in a dog’s wagging tail, or a strangers smile, or in that first sip of coffee. The hits of gratitude don’t need to be big to be effective, but you won’t see them if you’re focused on the dirt on your shoe. Look up, look around and see what gifts are here right now. Then watch this week’s video for another thought or two to brighten your day.
Plus, below I share a couple of downloadable Gratitude Exercises from my 6 Day Work-Life Reset.
It has been a long hot summer in Calgary where I’m from…and certainly across Canada. And for us it’s been a couple months of temperatures in the high thirties, and really hot days and warm nights. Well, last night it started to rain – a much needed rain, I might add – and it is pouring cats and dogs today.
I for one am grateful for it but as I was leaving a coaching meeting I had this morning, I saw two people that were complaining about the rain, despite the fact that we need it so badly. It reminded me that gratitude is something we all need to practice.
Hey, Michelle Cederberg here, out for a morning walk in the glorious rain, contemplating weather as a metaphor for life. (There’s Islay. She loves the rain). I think most of the time when we’re stuck in the busyness of life, we will often look at the other side of the fence and say, “Ahh things would be better if I that.” or, “Things are tough right now for me, it’d be better if I had what those people have. or what I don’t have now.” So, I would challenge you – because when the sun was here, it was great, but I heard many people saying, “Oh my gosh, it’s just so hot and can’t sleep.” and, “Oh my gosh, I wish it would rain.” And then the rains come and people start complaining about that.
It’s an opportunity for you to look at what’s going on in your life right now and say, “You know what? Good, bad or indifferent, what I have has beautiful moments in it, and has things to be grateful for.”
So, what does that look like for you? Weather as a metaphor for life.
We can continue to look over the other side of the fence and wish for what we don’t have, or we can be grateful for what we do have, and use that as a stepping stone towards getting more of what we crave.
Here are a couple of Gratitude Exercises you can download as part of your gratitude practice.
Download 1: GRATITUDE PRIMER
Download 2: Day 3 ungrateful GRATITUDE
The second download is a gratitude exercise for when you don’t feel grateful. Cheeky, but surprisingly effective. Both of the exercises are from my FREE 6 Day Work-Life Reset, which you can sign up for by clicking the link.
Use these exercises as an opportunity to check in with yourself as we come out the other side of Covid, as we come out the other side of summer… and gratitude is a big part of that. Take a look at your life right now. If things are great…GREAT. If things are a bit tough, stop for a moment and look around, and just hold onto the things that you’re grateful for. And sure, look ahead to the things that you want more of, but get to those things through your gratitude, and not through resentment for what you don’t yet have. Food for thought on a rainy day in Calgary.
Until next time, I’m Michelle Cederberg, reminding you we’ve got one chance to so this life, I say Dare to Live It Big, and dare to look for a little bit of sunshine, even when it’s raining cats and dogs.
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Michelle Cederberg, CSP, MKin, BA Psyc
CEP, CPCC, ORSC
Empowering today’s dreamers, leaders and go-getters to create the life and career they want.
www.michellecederberg.com
403-850-5589