Gratitude defined by the Oxford English Dictionary:
“The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”
When we are in a frequency or vibration of gratitude the universe brings us more things to be grateful for. This is why it is so important to be grateful and to practice gratitude.
There is always something to be grateful for, even in the darkest times. When I was certain I would be dying a good day with my kids was everything.
1. Gratefulness can help us feel better.
I believe that gratitude practice is a healing tool. I discovered my gratitude practice when I was battling a long-term illness. I had attended a women’s camp where we made gratitude journals and I wrote in it now and again. Once when I was struggling and feeling rather low, I happened on my journal and began looking through it. Afterward, I realized that I felt a bit better. I thought that was pretty interesting and decided to practice gratitude more regularly. I kept a journal for a few years, then I began taking photos of what I was grateful and posting daily to my Facebook page. I did this practice for about three years and then shifted back to my own daily journal practice.
2. Gratitude can shift our perspectives
I found that practicing gratitude helped me shift my perspectives. For example, having a sink full of dishes used to bother me. Now, I think about what I am grateful for and realize I am grateful that we have food to eat and that we have our family to eat with.
Another example was that I was very resistant to technology. When Covid hit, I realized how grateful I was to be able to see people’s faces and hear their voices using modern technology. I am now very appreciative of the fact that I can still do energy work and teach online classes with clients and students from all over the world.
3. Practicing gratitude with others feels good
Letting someone know you appreciate them by saying thank you can truly be an uplifting experience for both of you. I found that sharing what were grateful for at the dinner table with my kids helped us cultivate positive feelings on a regular basis. We naturally started looking for things we were grateful for throughout our day to share later that night. I found it to be a great way to end the day. Verbal expression of gratitude enhances the experience as we enjoy the benefits (Watkins, et al., 2003).
4. Being in states of appreciation raises our vibration
Over the years of working with various energy healing arts, I have seen how gratitude practice improves clients’ moods and wellbeing. Research on gratitude has shown that it is connected with positive emotions (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Also, that gratitude can help us sleep better and wake up feeling refreshed and energetic every morning (Zahn et al., 2009)
My gift to you:
I wanted to share some fun cards that I developed to assist us in cultivating gratitude. If you have some blocks to healing, the cards can make it a bit easier to incorporate gratitude into your daily life. They can be printed on card stock, standard letter size, and then cut out to create a deck.
Here are some ideas on how you can use your new gratitude cards:
Journal prompts: Choose 1 card a day as a prompt for a journal entry. As you write, really tune in to the feeling of gratitude and appreciation.
Family Activity: Choosing one card per night at the dinner table for each person to share their answer with the family.
Community share: Begin a ten-day social media gratitude challenge. Post a photo of one card per day for your friends and family to answer. Don’t forget to post your answer.
Workplace gratitude: Share cards with co-workers or as an activity at the close of meetings.
Random gratitude: Giving the cards to people or leaving them in places for people to find.
We are living in difficult times. If you are a person who is struggling to incorporate gratitude in your daily life, please don't beat yourself up, there are reasons for this. Please reach out to me. I do offer a free 15-minute consult, you are welcome to share this with family and friends who you think may need it.
… download your Gratitude Cards by opening the file and saving the PDF to your computer: