I was recently listening to a great meditation on Insight Timer by Alex Dudgon, Gratitude – 11 things to be grateful for. It struck me that each prompt he gave me challenged me seek gratitude where I wouldn’t usually go looking. It’s still very rewarding to show my gratitude to more typical areas of my life – my partner, my doggies, my home, the nature around me – but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of digging around to find gratitude in mundane objects and forgotten interactions too. So, to shake up your gratitude practice and challenge you to think harder, I’d like to prompt you with the 10 topics below. You can either comment your answers below, or write them down in your journal as a reminder. Grab a warm drink, get cosy and let’s get started.
- Sitting gratitude with the first thing that pops into your head. Absolutely anything at all.
- Sitting gratitude for the last thing you ate. What did it feel like in your mouth? What flavours did you enjoy?
- Think of something you’re grateful for that’s a material possession and why? This could be your car, your favourite jumper, your slippers.
- Sitting gratitude for the last person you spoke to. What did they do or say that you’re grateful for?
- Think of something about yourself that you are grateful for. This could be physical attributes, skills or personality traits.
- What is your favourite time of the day? What do you enjoy so much about this time?
- What learning experience are you grateful for? What did you learn from this that carries with you into the future?
- What is your favourite smell? What emotions does it evoke when you sense it and why are you grateful for it?
- What are you grateful for that makes you get out of bed every morning?
- Last and most certainly not least, what was I most grateful for from yesterday?
Some of these may have been easy for you, some may have taken you a little longer to answer. But hopefully what you have taken away from this is, there’s gratitude to be found everywhere. Stay grateful, stay present and stay kind.
Sending good vibes your way,
Jess
