We hear a lot of people talk about gratitude.
Especially around holidays.
Yet sometimes it can be difficult to feel appreciation.
For we often forget one important part.
And that is learning to be good to ourselves first.
For when we practice self-care, it is much easier to feel grateful.
When we do the things we want to do take care of ourselves, it shifts our mood.
Perhaps we start exercising, or treat ourselves to a massage.
Maybe we spend some time in nature.
Or we just spend some time with ourselves in silence.
Whatever it is that we do that meets our needs is essential for gratitude.
For when we are taking care of ourselves we feel better.
Our view of the world and of life shifts.
We become more positive.
Our whole nervous system relaxes and opens.
And that new place of openness and peace, we more naturally enjoy life.
Enjoying life is the key to being grateful.
For how can we be grateful when we are angry, upset or depressed?
Yet when we having a nice dinner with a loved one, or a conversation with an old friend, gratitude naturally bubbles up.
When we are pampering and treating ourselves to something fun and soothing, we appreciate the moment.
And when we are appreciating more and more moments, true gratitude wells up inside us.
All we have to do at that point is just be present to how we are feeling.
For we have tapped in to that place inside of us that is always there, yet we often don’t see.
It is that river of gratitude that runs underneath everything else.
We dip our toes in it every now and then.
And the surest way to get there is just be good to ourselves.
So what can you do to be good to yourself just a little more?
Notice how being good to yourself brings in more gratitude for your life.
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant