Gratitude. More than a List

I just  I counted how many weeks it is until January 1.
The answer… 6 weeks.
Gulp. Why did I do that? LOL
So as it suddenly feels like there's a rush as we barrel towards holiday season and the end of 2018,  I want to offer you an exercise that will help support your self development and conscious living even through the busy days.
Now is not the time to live solely on the surface. Quite the opposite. Now is the time to shift to a deeper state of being. 
Which is why I want to talk with you about “Conscious Gratitude”.

I don’t usually use the word Gratitude… I usually resonate with Appreciation because it feels like it creates more of an emotional shift, but when I heard Danielle Laporte use the phrase Conscious Gratitude the other day, I knew she would be discussing a deep resonance and full powered focus on giving Thanks.

 I can’t think of a better focus during the week leading up to the American Thanksgiving…
But also, it is truly one of the best tools to align ourselves to staying Off that self sacrificing self. When we appreciate truly and fully we create an inner connection.
It’s like we plug ourselves in to a universal socket and we allow energy to flow through us, fuel us and support us through whatever chaos is piling up in front of us.
And let’s face it. There’s a lot of chaos.

From Holiday preparations, frantic to-do lists, and 6 weeks to that New Year Chime, there’s also world chaos, the usual stresses of running homes and businesses, children feeling the pressure of the season or reacting to stresses around them...
But then, within the tornado of swirling chaos, today, let's find the center of Gratitude.
Because, it's so much more than a list.
Gratitude lists can be great to help shift perception from "what do I need", "what do I want", "what can I get", or"what is coming"…
over to "what do I have" or "who am I now?"which is an amazing tool to find presence. Gratitude lists can take control of our thoughts and focus.

However simply listing them often misses a huge vibrational, emotional and spiritual shift.
A shift that takes the process from head focused to HEART FOCUSED.

Thinking, intellect and mentally processing only gets us so far.
So to dive deeper, we have to transform this process to one of heart centered, conscious FEELING. (and feeling is from what we attract from!)
I want to invite you to FEEL the difference, right now.
While you read this, simply scribble down 3 things you are grateful for.
Go ahead, try it. 
It might be a usual list or you might need to give it some thought. 
(If you can’t figure anything out, try just writing down breath to get started. It can be things we take for granted each moment of each day.)
Then, beside each item, write 5 reasons WHY you appreciate it. Let it rant out. Let it flow. 

Can you feel how it shifts you to presence? How it focuses you to within, slowing you down to FEELING in the moment, not just using intellect to get you there?
I LOVE using this process in the chaotic times. I'm using it often lately.
Because it’s 6 weeks to the new year.
And, personally, in two weeks until we’ll be leaving our rundown farmhouse in Nova Scotia and driving to Montreal to catch a plane to Spain with our 2 cats, dog and minimal possessions, so we can start an experiment as worldschoolers, traveling, working online and educating our kids.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what’s coming. So tempting to feel pressure and rushing.
But, then I stop to appreciate so the journey and experience can begin NOW.
I appreciate the home we are leaving. No matter how tumbling she is (honestly, tumbling doesn't even begin to explain), or how much work she has been, she has housed us and kept us dry.
Our daughters have learnt how to be themselves here as they blossomed into teens these past few years. Our son became brave, finding his feet in his true self. Actually, he was born in this very room.
 We’ve been trying to set up a new life for years, but I appreciate how the universe kept us here until the time was right, until it was perfectly lined up.

I am savoring the simple steps that have made life beautiful, like Oak Meadow, the curriculum that brought creativity and curiosity back into my daughter’s life. That simple connection made such a huge transformation, giving her confidence in her own ability and learning, and practical processes that makes each day of learning fulfilling and focused. She has a foundation in knowledge, learning and herself that I appreciate and savor in every day.
Lining up with appreciation reduces the scrambling.
It gives our thoughts, and hearts focus and puts the emphasis on the actual experience of living, rather than the planning, contemplating, or thinking through.
So, at this time of Thanksgiving, going within and preparation for the new year, rather than scurrying and scattering first and giving self care later, I encourage you to take a few moments each morning or night and write down a few things you appreciate or are grateful for… and then consciously, joyfully, savoringly ask yourself…
WHY?
Let your attention shift from your head to your heart and your day transform.
Love and light! Have a beautiful week.