Chimpanzee at the St. Louis Zoo, October 2010
There are times when my monkey mind is so bad, meditating barely makes a dent in it, and peace eludes me. This has been the case more often than not during the past month or more. Even so, I’m keeping up with my twice-daily meditations, albeit imperfectly, because they put coins in my higher consciousness piggy bank.
So, what’s a girl to do when she needs a break from the unrelenting thoughts, especially when they’re negative and locking me in frustration?
Write a daily gratitude list.
It’s a practice I used for years, but then slipped away years ago. You know how that goes, right, where something’s working and making you feel better, so you decide you don’t need it anymore? Well, time to start it up again, and I thought I’d share my first with you:
1. I’m grateful I have 2 brilliant, responsible, beautiful, and loving daughters.
2. I’m grateful I cleaned the house yesterday and everything is in order.
3. I’m grateful the weather is nice enough to have our windows open. The sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze, and birds are singing.
4. I’m grateful my husband chose an excellent surgeon for his upcoming hip replacement surgery. He’ll be in good hands and have the best procedure for quick recovery.
5. I’m grateful I reconciled key pains of my past before mom’s death so our last months together were precious.
6. I’m grateful that my eating/body mindfulness is paying off – shorts from last summer are now too big.
7. I’m grateful we have a new, self-propelled mower. That starts easily. (Our last mower was a 20+ year-old hand-me-down.)
8. I’m grateful for books.
9. I’m grateful for a huge and raucous extended family.
10. I’m grateful I’m speaking my truth.
Yes, that feels better. I could write a hundred more items, and still not reach the end of all the gifts in my life.
What are you grateful for?
