For years I’ve said love is a superpower, and, without doubt, it is. But, if you want to make instantaneous transmorphic change, flash quick and astounding-like – you’ve got another superpower at the ready, just itching to be used by you.
It works faster than love.
Its results are proven.
It’s snap crackle fast and always available to you, and you, and you – to everyone.
That superpower, darlings, is gratitude.
Hanging out in the doldrums? Sprinkle a little gratitude among the blues.
Pissed off and streaming explicatives? Deploy a little gratitude into the fray.
Pretty content, but not elated? Send your eyes for a swim in the gratitude sea.
It’s not a cover up, and it’s not a negation. It’s a true-to-earth transformation.
It will change you.
Gratitude gains you a first class seat on the upward spiral.
Even when you’re in a piss poor mood, and everything looks black, if you start to find gratitudes through gritted teeth, your jaw cannot help but loosen a little, and that’s all you need.
Little by little, but fast. So very fast.
Over time, I’ve made it a practice to wake up with gratitude in my heart. Gratitude is my first thought, almost daily, and if it is not my first thought, you’d better believe it’s short on the heels of whatever lame idea made a dash for the front lines.
See when you know what superpowers are available to you, why wouldn’t you use them?
Even though I give rapt attention to infusing my life with quiet gratitude, this month I’m also participating the Gratitude Playground, a daily video fest of spoken gratitudes to be witnessed by, well, all who care to view them. (you can too, right here)
I look forward to recording them every day, because it holds me so very accountable and creates a ripple effect. It’s one thing to use the power to elevate yourself (which of course elevates those around you), but it’s quite another to put it on the wall for everyone to behold.
It’s interesting, even though I look forward to them every day, some days I DO NOT want to hop on camera and speak grace – which is of course the time when I need it most.
So I do it. Because I made a public commitment, and I refuse to miss a day, but even if I’m tired or a little grouchy faced at the moment, the byproduct of doing is the immediate elevation of my spirits.
The grouchy face disappears, and I’m reminded that life is pretty fucking awesome.
That is worth the small discomfort of pressing record.
You’re most welcome to join us on the Gratitude Playground. I’m just about halfway through my 30 days, but it’s rolling enrollment, and I’d love for YOU to keep the trend going. Perhaps we can pass the torch so that millions around the world can be affected by public displays of gratitude on the daily.
However you decide to join, by video or in spirit, I do hope you’ll make gratitude a practice. It’s a potent power.
And if you find yourself rattling off lists of gratitudes without feeling a shift, take it a step further and recount why you’re grateful for that thing the puts a shine on your eyes and a flutter in your heart.
The why is so very important.
Me? I’m grateful for the written word because within the labyrinths of letters and meanings, I find my greatest expression.
What are you grateful for?