“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” ~~Mary Davis
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” ~~Brené Brown
“I looked around and thought about my life. I felt grateful. I noticed every detail. That is the key to time travel. You can only move if you are actually in the moment. You have to be where you are to get to where you need to go.” ~~Amy Poehler
#6 Life can be ordinary or it can be great.
Greatness is mine by a conscious effort.
Some days it can feel difficult to stay focused on gratitude. Many people are feeling unbalanced and uncertain during this time of global crisis. Layers of stress have generated a diversion and have added to feelings of imbalance. While we do not know what lays before us, as 4C women we know what lays within us, and Statement #6 in action encourages conscious creation.
This Statement can be one of the most overlooked of the 13 WFS Statements, but it also can be the one that shifts past perceptions into today’s presence and tomorrow’s expansion. One of the easiest ways to practice Statement #6 is to focus on gratitude. Before my New Life, gratitude was almost non-existent, or it was given with an ulterior motive. Yet sobriety and recovery have enabled continuing conscious development.
Taking even just a few moments during the day to focus on gratitude creates new portals for presence and cements feelings of contentment. One activity that jump-started feelings of gratitude was to jot down every day, 5 things that I appreciated. It could be as simple as the beauty of a blue sky to a deep conversation with a friend. In the beginning, it felt hard to name at least five things. Overtime, my brain began to consciously seek out items to add to the list, and practicing Statement #6 became a way of life.
Statement #6 Tool:
Every day write in a notebook or journal five things/events/people/moments that you are grateful for. Reread this whenever you begin to feel a sense of imbalance or fear. You can also begin a bedtime ritual of naming a few things that you were grateful for during the day. Keep this journal next to your bed and add to it every evening. If you would like to share how you practice gratitude, email your helpful hints to karen@teamwfs.org.
Hugzzz
Karen
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Hi 4C Women,
I love the idea of writing a daily gratitude list and the guidance Karen gave us in acknowledging that it’s the awareness of what you feel, big or small, that fosters the feelings of gratefulness. In the past, I would think it had to be a huge event to even be considered. With WFS, I have learned it is what touches our hearts that makes us pause for a moment and feel the joy of a loving conversation or a single word, the beauty of nature, finding an old photo that evokes fond memories and being grateful for the simple basics in our lives that we may have taken for granted. As we work through these challenging times, I am reminded of how trust and patience was my focus in the beginning of my sobriety journey. I had to learn to trust my instincts, trust my choices (that was scary) and have more patience than I ever knew I could muster if I was to have a life of ordinary greatness. Yes, ordinary greatness is having a life without constant chaos, questioning my every decision, hating myself, blaming others… the list is quite lengthy. Ordinary greatness is being responsible for my actions, awareness of those moments of joy, forgiving myself for my past choices which spells freedom, emotional and spiritual growth for me and learning to like and love myself. And in this uncertain time, I am reminded that life challenges are not supposed to paralyze us, they are supposed to help us discover who we are. I am learning a lot about myself and I am surprised to discover after all these years that there is still more to learn. I always joked that my life would be fully determined by the age of 40 – relationship, career, family. My goodness, 40 was just the continuation of life changes, major ones!
Consider what you are learning about yourself right now. Is there something that took you by surprise as it has me? Has this social distancing/isolation awakened you to the idea that this might be a wonderful opportunity to expand on your New Life, finding ways to create a life full of ordinary greatness? I am hoping you will take the time to create a gratitude list. My hope is also that it will help in discovering the awareness of what we have rather than what we don’t have. Perhaps you will share your list with others to give them encouragement and support.
Bonded in discovering who we are, what we are grateful for and building a life of ordinary greatness, Dee
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