“What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.”
-Oprah Winfrey
I’m always amazed how fast positive changes start to occur when I focus on gratitude. Years ago, I started a gratitude journal. During my darkest days I would be grateful for having the ability to walk, see, hear, and smell. I would be grateful for having a roof over my head and clothes to wear. In the beginning, it was hard coming up with new things every day. What was important is that I kept doing it, and I kept it aligned with positive energy. This meant no negative statements, such as I’m grateful I wasn’t…, I’m grateful he didn’t…, all these statements attract the negative. The focus is on the lack of something. This exercise is about what IS there. That is where the magic exists.
I quickly realized that the list got easier to write. I would seek out things to be grateful for. This is how I found my appreciation for nature again. When I was a kid, I loved being outside and exploring my surroundings. When I lost my way, I stopped going on adventures.
I forgot about the beauty of a sunset and a sunrise. I forgot how it felt to be out in the woods in awe of my surroundings. All the pictures you will see on my blog are ones I have taken. Those are my personal moments that I’m sharing with you. Seeing those pictures reminds me to stay grateful to the beauty that is a part of me inside and out.
Before the end of my marriage, I started a gratitude list and made sure to put my husband on it every day. On days that I was really angry, I would dedicate a whole page to him. I did this because I didn’t want to be led by anger/fear. When I did leave, I did it in peace. I knew from a loving place, it was the right thing. I have never looked back or regretted my decision. I’m grateful to him for helping me dig deep to discover the person I am meant to be.
I took a course at Eckerd College called, The Creative Process. We had an assignment called a “Mudball: Thirty-Five Days of Creativity”. For 35 days we had to commit to a creative activity. I chose to draw a picture, add a quote, and write 5 things I’m grateful for. The good times kept rolling in. My mind was clearer, my heart was fuller, and I was happy and content with my single life.
Since the time of the assignment, I have had many blessings come my way. I may not be rich financially, but I am truly abundant in everything that matters. I have attracted so many wonderful things to my life all by focusing my energy on what I already have. I even found a relationship that was worthy of me giving up my single life.
Starting January 1, 2016, my kids and I started a gratitude jar. Every night we write about things we were grateful for that day. They write three things each, and I write 5-10. This blog was one of the positive outcomes that came from me focusing on my gratitude. I find that being in gratitude gives me more energy to focus my love and creativity in all the right places.
Christie Marie Sheldon’s Love or Above really helped me to understand the importance of staying in the energy of love and gratitude. Her CD series did wonders for me.
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Read how you can be apart of it all A Month of Gratitude.
I hope you will join me by investing in your best energy. Let’s spread the attitude of gratitude.
With Love and Gratitude,
Rachael Wolff
