At this point I don’t even know how many posts I have written about gratitude this year. I spent the morning in an amazing yoga class, had green juice with ladies afterwards and on my drive home was reminded of all I have to be grateful for. I know this might sound weird—I am incredibly grateful for all of the emotional stuff I’ve been going through the last few weeks. I have seen just how human I am willing to be and just how willing I am to be human in front of others. It feels really good to not hide out in fear of what people will think or say about me. The reality is we all go through uncomfortable and painful times and as of late it’s just been my turn.

I woke up to some beautiful messages from folks that follow the blog and that made my heart swell. Sometimes I am still amazed at how many people have my back and are rooting for me. I think much of it is a testament to how open I am about my experiences. You cannot fake authenticity. We all know when people are being genuine and when they are not. Occasionally I worry that I will be “too much” for someone or my posts will be too personal but the truth is I am too much for some people and not everyone is going to be into my blog. I am not here to please others that is not why I write. I am here to express myself and try to do so in a way that you can connect to on some level. I want to speak in a way that is true and relatable.

I read an article in the New York Times that talked about gratitude being linked to happiness and optimism and I am totally on board with this. In times of sadness it is definitely easy to start feeling like real crap about myself and my life. Counter acting that is where I am today, moving forward. I am recommitting to daily gratitude lists for the remainder of the year because they work for me. If I don’t feel grateful after jotting down 5 or 8 things I’ll keep going until I feel better. I have so much to be grateful for I could write for days and days. I remember a time when it was so challenging to come up with 3 things. Practicing gratitude is like learning to use a new muscle, it can be challenging and uncomfortable in the beginning but gets a lot easier with consistent practice.

This evening I am grateful that I have been consciously practicing gratitude for so many years that it comes rather easily to me. Being part of an ever growing gratitude email list helps too. I get at least 6 gratitude lists from women each day. Reading these lists reminds me that life is just too precious to not focus on how much abundance and beauty there is, even in the midst, or especially in the midst of unpleasant times. As I wind down to crawl in bed my heart is once again full with an endless amount of love and gratitude for this journey and everyone I have met along the way.

xoa

PS

If you want to read that article you can here, it’s from 2011.

Photo: Marielle Chua