Getting Grateful, even for the s*it show 🙏🏻🏻

I’m in a yoga class as a student (love doing this btw) and the teacher says, “open your heart to living a life of gratitude”. 

Mmmk.

Thank you for my house. Thank you for food. Thank you for my car. Thank you for my bed. Thank you for how ridiculous I must look trying to hold this pose. Thank you for my belly not hanging out of my pants. Thank you for no one looking at me in the back over here on the struggle bus. Thank you for not being the youngest or the oldest. 

Argh! Is that gratitude… gratitude with a side of judgement and comparison? 

I’m sure that’s not what I’m supposed to thinking. Thank you for sunshine. Thank you for tights with pockets. Thank you for seat heaters in my car. That’s better, right? Thoughts back on the “right” track?  

Maybe not. 

What if my limiting, judge-y, comparison-laden thoughts were EXACTLY what I needed to be grateful for? What if I let myself be grateful in the dark places too?

Darkness cannot live in light. 

Of course we are all grateful for the same basic things. When and if those basic needs aren’t met, life comes to a big halt in a very uncomfortable way. But when you dig a little deeper for gratitude and all it’s possibilities, it can completely change your life and the lens in which you view the world.

Let’s get started:

1. There is no right/wrong, shame/guilt in gratitude. 

If I’m grateful for my belly not hanging over my pants in yoga I might ask myself, “Who or what taught me that I should be ashamed of my body and what would it do for me to no longer belong to that story?” Now I’m deeply grateful for a part of me I used to HATE, which makes me feel alive with energy and strength. If I’m grateful for being able to “hide” in class (or let’s face it, in life…), what if I explored the idea that somewhere I was taught that being seen was a bad thing and being seen not looking perfect was even worse. What am I missing out on by belonging to that idea? Let fear go so gratitude can grow. Here’s Marilyn Monroe and all her badass gorgeous-ness:

2. Start and end your day with gratitude.

Get up and find one thing you are grateful for. Before you go to sleep find one thing you are grateful for. Do this for 30 days. You WILL change your life. Challenge everyone in your world to do it too or post it somewhere in your house where everyone can see it. Watch your grateful energy spread. It’s incredibly powerful.

3. I love you. I acknowledge you. I notice you being…

When’s the last time you said (felt) these words to or about yourself?

When’s the last time you said these words to someone you care about?

If you think it’s weird or woo-woo to genuinely love yourself, what kind of love do you attract? 

If you think it’s not a thing to celebrate and acknowledge the one and only you that is, you will limit your capacity to do that for others. 

Honestly, I don’t remember what gifts I opened last Christmas but I still have a beautiful hand written card that I wake up to everyday. 

Things are things but emotions are legacy’s in real time.

Find a way to give 5 genuine heart felt thank you’ s to people in your world with ZERO expectations in return. Notice how you feel. Notice what is reflected in you when you allow yourself to be vulnerable. 

4. Challenge yourself to be grateful for the super shitty day’s. 

Bad days happen to everyone. Horrible days, life situations, people, jobs, money, allergies, the flu, flat tires, layoff’s, losses, train’s blocking you from your favorite Pilates class… it happens. And it will happen again. To all of us. 

The overwhelming majority of survivors from catastrophic events attribute their resilience, in the darkest, most horrific of situations say it was because they found the silver lining. They found hope, light, gratitude and positivity in total despair. 

You are not a piece of dead flesh on a rock waiting to get pummeled by the next rainstorm, tornado, car tire or male dog marking territory. There is beauty, compassion, clarity and understanding in every shit show. Reframe your “Why is this happening to me” to “How is this happening for me”? And a step further, “Where else is this showing up in my life?”

5. Let gratitude be a key to releasing toxic tension, anxiety and fear.

Fear and gratitude cannot exist together. Re-read #1. Stress, tension and anxiety manifest themselves in powerful ways in our bodies. Scan your body and explore what it is that is being stored as pain or disgust and let it go (this is a powerful way I help others through my signature Transformational Health/Life Coaching). Ask yourself how a victim mindset may be serving you? 

What would it feel like to have gratitude for what’s possible

…rather than reacting to what’s broken? 

Practicing gratitude is the simplest way to make the biggest impact in your life. 

Thank you from my heart to yours, I am beyond grateful that I have been through what I have in my life to lead me to be here with you right now. 

You got this!

Christy

P.S. Email me ccwecater@gmail.com and let me know what you’re grateful for, you are MY incredible inspiration.