HEART-ITUDE: Exceptionally grateful people practice 

 “A heart that expresses gratitude Glows, Shines forth with attitude”

                                  – Joshua Awesome

In a little over thirty days December 2021 will be history. However, the heart of gratitude, is an attitude exceptionally grateful people would use to deepen their practise, thereby rewiring their brains, birthing more joy and less stress.

Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn who founded University Of Massachusetts, School Of Medicine (CFM Centre), where I trained as a cognitive therapist and stress reduction specialist, says, “Little things? Little moments? They aren’t little.”

Everyday I wake up grateful, consciously communicating today’s a great-day and affirm something good is going to happen through me today, and also affirm something good will happen to me today; thus setting the tone of the entire day from my waking moment.

There’s something good worth savouring in every new and beautiful day the sun rises, so it turns into a habit that turns strength within when a new day doesn’t feel so good or great, the attitude of gratitude already developed deepens within.

Watching one’s words or language is another intentional lifestyle of exceptionally grateful people as their style of expression includes language of abundance, blessings, blessed, gifts, fortunate, for in gratitude one does not focus on how inherently good one is, rather focuses on the inherently good or great things that others have done on your behalf.

Finding at least one good thing that went well in the day wraps one within, which helps handle everything emerging in the day(s) ahead.

A reflective question I will ask you from my coaching Psychologist Practice perspective would be: What are you thankful for today and why ?

When we start with what is working within our world, from our health, which is our very first wealth, we enable our autonomous nervous systems, thereby regulating involuntary psychological processes including your, my, our heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, amongst others.

Sense-ability coming to my, your, our senses through ‘touch’, ‘smell’, ‘see’, ‘taste’ and ‘hear’ helps each one of us strengthen our appreciation of what it means to be human in these trying times, seeing what an incredible miracle it is to be alive, enabled through the lens of gratitude for our human body is not only a miraculous construction, we are an embodiment of energy encircled with life, which is itself a gift to treasure.

Seneca, the great philosopher of Ancient Rome (4BC-AD65), was once accused by the empress, Mesalina, of adultery, which led to him being sentenced to death. The emperor, Claudius, instead exiled him to Corsica, perhaps because he suspected the charge was false.

It is recorded that the reprieve possibly shaped Seneca’s view of thankfulness when he wrote:

“Homicides, tyrants, thieves, adulterers, robbers, sacrilegious men, and traitors there will always be, but worse than all these is the crime of ingratitude” – SENECA

The emperor’s suspected falsehood of charge on Seneca was some sort of “Subtraction” rather than addition (keeping him in Rome) which is worth trying. Give consideration to what your life would be without certain persons or things in all our lives, so rather than just tallying up all the good stuff, show gratitude for the not too good also.

Outcomes prevented, escaped, avoided shouldn’t be taken for granted seeing them as some good fortune of sorts.

So, let us begin to conclude by writing the right things that turned up in our day or life everyday. Elaborating in detail about a particular person or thing for which you, me, we are grateful carries more benefits than a superficial list of many things.

Lastly, you don’t need to force or overdo it. Today you can start; however, you can commit to twice or thrice a week which will be more beneficial than forcing daily journaling because, as humans we adapt to positive events and can sooner than later become numb to them so savouring surprises that were unexpected unlocks a stronger level of gratitude.

To Your Rise and Continued Success.