Gratitude Is More Than A Word

I have always thought of myself as grateful.

As someone who is thankful and appreciates what I have.

I mean, I spent 9 years of my life in Kenya, E. Africa as a missionary kid after all.

Praying and giving thanks were just part of what we did.

We gave thanks at each meal.

We gave thanks for safe travels.

We gave thanks for our family and friends.

We gave thanks.

It was ingrained.

It was rote.

It was expected.

In September 2018, being grateful took on a new meaning for me.

I had just secretly (yes secretly) enrolled in a Health Coach certification program at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN).

I say secretly because I didn’t tell a soul.

Not even my husband.

I was following a nudge in my heart to do something more, and use my life to help others.

I didn’t want anyone laughing at me, or saying I was crazy….so it was my secret for the first 3 months.

In the very first module, we were introduced to a holistic view of our life and our bodies.

This was new to me.

A concept I had heard of before, but never applied to me as a person.

The director and founder of IIN, Joshua Rosenthal talked about gratitude and how having a daily practice of being grateful, even for the smallest of things, shifts your way of thinking, and your mindset.

Again, as someone who growing up was taught to pray 3 times a day for the food she was about to eat, I thought that was gratitude.

I was wrong.

Yes, I was saying thanks before I ate, but the words and phrases just rolled off my tongue with no thought.

In fact, there were times when my brother and I would have a race to see who could finish first.

A person listening to us would think we were saying one long word. We got so good at it, we didn’t have to take a breath until we were finished.

So when I was given the homework to sit quietly, reflect on my life, and write down 3 things I was grateful for, it seemed near impossible.

It was uncomfortable.

It was foreign.

I remember writing these 3 things down on my first day trying this whole gratitude practice thing.

1. I am grateful for my family.

2. I am grateful for my job (I was still working full time, 50+ hours a week).

3. I am grateful for attending IIN.

That was it.

For weeks, that is what I would sit and write down every single day.

It took me no longer than 5 minutes, and then I would sit and look at the paper for a few more minutes until I got up and started getting ready for work.

As I began to move through my course, and advance through each module, I began to dig deeper into my own life.

Look at habits, routines, and my health more closely.

After all, that’s what a health coach does with their clients, so it made sense I was learning how to do that with myself.

It was during this time, I began to take gratitude more seriously.

I began to WANT to wake up earlier so I could sit with my thoughts, and really reflect.

This was weird in itself since I am not a morning person by any means.

I will push the snooze button at least 2 times. So waking up BEFORE my family and sometimes when it was still dark out, was not something I was used to at all.

Especially when I was still working full time, 50+ hours a week.

You know what?

After a couple of weeks of doing this, I began to look forward to the quiet.

To my alone time.

To my reflection time.

I started to dive deeper.

Instead of just writing 3 very basic things I was grateful for, my family, my job, and my new course, I began to ask myself WHY I was grateful for those 3 things.

I answered the question and then listed the reason underneath.

Asking myself WHY allowed me to go deeper.

To see things I had never seen before.

To truly look below the surface level, and appreciate all of my family members in different ways.

Even when my husband and I weren’t seeing eye to eye, and going through a rough patch.

I wasn’t filled with regret and anger.

I began to look at him in a different light.

Because I was taking the time to go deeper. I was no longer just scratching the surface.

I continued doing this every day.

I was consistent with waking earlier than my family, and spending time by myself.

I began to notice my thoughts changing.

I was calmer.

I didn’t react as quickly.

I was taking time to breathe.

Today, 5 years later, I wake up every morning (even on the weekends),

To start my day with gratitude.

I use a regular notebook,

I date each page with the day, month, and year.

Some days I stop at 3 things I am grateful for, other days I fill the page.

I sit in the same spot on the sofa in my office.

I have a fuzzy blanket I use (even in the summertime).

The space is mine.

It is a special place that holds my thoughts.

Most mornings my 9-year-old wakes up, comes in to give me a kiss and heads downstairs.

She has seen me do this for the past 5 years, and knows I will come downstairs when I am finished.

It is normal to her.

She respects my time.

And the notebook?

I save them every year.

I can now go back and look through them.

It’s like a story of my journey in gratitude. I look back through them and am amazed at how much I have grown personally, and have seen things in my life change as a result of one simple action.

Gratitude.

After seeing how gratitude has changed my life for the better,

I now teach this to my clients and recommend they start this as a daily practice.

A new habit in the new lifestyle they are embarking on.

Want to dig deeper?

Try out this 5 Minute Gratitude Journal. It’s a great tool to start your gratitude practice in as little as 5 minutes a day.

Gratitude is more than a word. It’s an action.

When you practice gratitude in your life everyday, you will start to notice that small things truly do bring you joy, and make you feel different.