First, let me start this week’s blog off by being radically honest! I, Melissa Blynn, used to be a glass-half-empty gal. It’s true. Before a gratitudes practice came into my life just this year, I had an unconscious habit of consistently looking for the “wrong” in most situations. I distorted reality in my everyday interactions, always waiting for the worst to happen.
And I have done enough self exploration to know why.
My pessimistic, glass-half-empty mentality stemmed from all the loss, pain, and trauma that I had experienced as a child. At just 7 years old, after being left for weeks at Child Haven, I developed a core belief system that everyone I love will abandon me. Into my thirties, I was still looking over my shoulder, waiting for something bad to happen even though my life was shaping up to be pretty damn good!
I focused so much on this fear that I ended up pushing people away. I lost an amazing man because I was looking around every corner, waiting for shit to hit the fan. Even though the relationship was healthy, loving, and filled with zero drama. This was new for me, not a relationship I was used to.
What I started to learn: I truly had the power of manifestation and getting what I downright deserve. I learned how the power of abundance and gratitude go hand in hand.
The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude
My deep gratitude work and understanding how it could benefit my life started when I met my best friend and business partner, Sandi Herrera, from Educator Dynamics. She teaches educators, students, and clients about the power of Core Values and Gratitudes and it was clear immediately that she had a lot to teach me.
Numerous studies are demonstrating how gratitude journaling can increase one’s happiness. Others show that inflammation in one’s body can decrease. Each study offers insights into how a person can improve their overall health and well-being […] Expressing gratitude reduces stress, increases optimism, and changes your brain.”
positivepsychology.com
FACT: Our perspective influences everything. As I shared in my post about the importance of optimism, we as humans are hard-wired with a negative bias. We are also creatures of habit. Therefore, our past and our lifelong, deep-ingrained habits play a large role in the way we “view” or perceive things.
The Good News: Making relative, repeatable, and consistent changes in your approach to life makes a big difference. Having a solid gratitudes practice is integral to changing your approach to life and the view of what you “choose” to see.
The Law of Attraction
When you create space to cultivate gratitude in your daily rituals, you have the power to feel true joy and contentment, no matter what you have or don’t have in your life.
Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, once said,
Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
The belief that we attract what we put out into the world has been around since ancient times with many believing Buddha was the first to teach the Law of Attraction to the world.
The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like. When you’re grateful for what you already have, you will naturally attract more for which you can be grateful.
For many of you, slowing down enough to practice this simple law (and it is a law in my EpicLuv book!), can be a challenge. I’m pretty sure your unconscious mind is telling you:
I don’t have time in the morning to do gratitudes.”
I don’t have anything to be grateful for.”
Sure I can be grateful but that doesn’t change my situation.”
My friend, excuses only sound good to the people who make them.
Implementing a daily gratitudes practice
It takes time and effort. Just like any significant change in your life (remember, your body loves habit), you have to be willing to do something different to create a different result.
Listen closely: in order to shift the way you feel and what you attract you have to start with your mind set to gratitude.
Setting your mind to gratitude helps you have the clarity to appreciate that life is abundant – truly abundant – when we acknowledge it for the simple things. Changing your mindset to gratitude creates space in you to be open to NEW opportunities, inspiration and so much more!
With gratitude in your heart, your relationships will flourish. You will be looking for what is amazing, different and great about your relationships (romantic, platonic, familial, and beyond), verus looking for the wrong.
FACT: Differences are GOOD. They inspire us, help us become better humans, and make life better!
How I used gratitude for attracting financial abundance
I talk about it often because I am so damn proud of it – I recently paid off $40,000 in debt in 14 months.
There’s a lot of focus, planning, and habits that I needed to execute to accomplish this goal, but a large part of my success, I believe, came from my daily gratitudes practice and the Law of Attraction.
Every time I was given a check or put a deposit into my account, I wrote in the memo line, “Thank you for this abundance to help me!”
And let me tell you…money began coming to me from ALL areas of my life. I was attracting around $6K – $7K a month and it felt unreal. I respected the money and gave it gratitude for helping me be debt free and financially secure!
You can apply this method to any area of your life to create more ABUNDANCE:
- Relationships
- Love
- Career
- Travel
- And more…
My Epic Morning Ritual Gratitude Practice, which is actually very simple, looks like this:
I write down the below daily… and I mean daily. It takes me less than 10 minutes and makes all the difference in my life:
- 3 Gratitudes
- 1 Desire
- 1 Intention
Try it today?
Try it if negativity, pessimism, hopelessness, worry…and so much more…is consuming your everyday outlook on life.
Try it if you yearn for something to change, something good to come your way.
Try gratitude to attract abundance.
Remember, I had to lose all that I loved deeply because I let my negative bias control my perception. I didn’t realize that this simple act (daily gratitudes) could have made all the difference in my life.
But the good news is, I now know better and am doing better and life is ON fire right now, due in part, to this practice. You ultimately get to choose your perceptions. What do you choose to look at today?
GRATITUDE….
It’s a simple formula that will transform your life. Say it out loud, write it down, think it, feel it, breathe it. Gratitude. Come from a place of thankfulness every step you take. Stop focusing on the problems, focus on the solution. And the solution is simple; I already gave it to you.
If you are struggling with how to find or create gratitude in your life, let’s jump on a free 1 hour Discovery Session. Book your free session today here.
With EpicLuv,
Melissa
More EpicLuv Blogs You Might Like:
Filling My Cup First: My Epic Morning Routine
Why Optimism Matters Now More Than Ever for Your Health
How To Find Hope In Uncertain Times
Powerhouse Herbs & Mushrooms for Immune Support
Boost UP with This Nutrient to Support a Kick Ass Immune System
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