Gardening with New Gratitude Seeds 🌱
Another post about gratitude?
I know, it can feel like “been there, done that,” but keep reading if you’re ready to up your gratitude game.
It turns out that the greatest benefits from gratitude are found in the details.
I’ve been on the gratitude train for years, but it turns out, I needed some new “seeds” to really reap the benefits of gratitude. 🙏🏼
Thinking about what you are grateful for is a great first step.
But if you really want to harvest the full benefit of a gratitude practice…you might need some new seeds.
📔 Gratitude Journaling vs. Mental Checklist
Has your gratitude practice ever looked like this?
I am grateful for my family, my home, and my work.
Check, check, and check. ✅✅✅
Now, what’s next on my to-do list?
🤦🏼♀️Yep, me too.
Gratitude can feel like just another item on the to-do list.
If you’re not writing about the things you are grateful for, you are missing out on one of the biggest benefits: self-awareness.
Journaling can reveal insights about your gratitude practice, including healthy and unhealthy patterns.
And writing down ideas slows your thinking…giving you more time to experience the vibrational energy of gratitude. It’s powerful stuff! ⚡️
💚 General Gratitude vs. Detailed Dividends
After years of gratitude practice, I realized I was caught in the vortex of generalized gratitude. 🌪️
I could write five things I was grateful for in mere seconds. ⏱️
But speed and quantity are not the point. 🤷🏽♀️
Authentic gratitude can improve mood, sleep, and immunity.
It can also decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease.
So how can we harvest the most from our gratitude practice?
It turns out that instead of listing as many things as you can in under 15 seconds, it’s better to go deep with gratitude about one thing.
I tried it…wow!
It made such a difference.
I felt an immediate shift in my physical presence. My mood lifted, and it created a deeper connection with the specific person I was expressing gratitude about. I saw them in a whole new light.
This works whether you are grateful for a person, an object, an experience…anything!
It even works with a tomato.
🍅 Gratitude in Two Easy Steps
1. Select a person or object to focus on and express gratitude for.
2. List five details about why you are grateful for the person/object.
For example:
I was out in my garden yesterday, harvesting tomatoes for marinara, which I planned to freeze for later this winter. ❄️
I decided to challenge my gratitude practice using a tomato.
Here’s what I came up with:
- I am grateful for the brilliant red color that reminds me of a rich and robust life.
- I am grateful for the smooth skin that almost tickles my hand as I hold it.
- I am grateful for the robust flavor it will add to my marina sauce when I eat it mid-winter.
- I am grateful for the nutrition and healing it will bring to my body.
- I am grateful for the sun’s warmth that the tomato absorbed and then shares with the palm of my hand.
In contrast, I could’ve just said I was grateful for the tomato and then moved on to being grateful for my beets and kale.
Instead, I slowed down and experienced a richer sense of gratitude. Maybe you even sensed it in the words I used?
Now it’s your turn to plant a new seed of gratitude. 🌱
This week:
1. Identify one person, object, or experience to be grateful for.
2. Write five details about why you are grateful for this person/idea.
3. Make note of how you experience gratitude differently using this practice.
By exploring these questions, you can gain a deeper and longer laster experience with gratitude in all areas of life.
Even something as simple as a tomato. 🍅
