Gratitude is often thrown around as a panacea for mental unrest. It’s true, there is great merit in looking for the good, in appreciating the small and big things we already have in our lives. I love the saying, ‘gratitude is our minds way of saying to the universe, yes please, I’ll have some more of that!’
Perspective is pretty magical also. With a change in our mindset, by reframing a situation, or by finding the silver lining, there is usually a gift to be found in adversity.
Amid the rollercoaster of emotions these past weeks, I have had moments of real gratitude. Gratitude for the extra time with my children, gratitude at not having to do the school run and the fights that happen at the same time, gratitude for the rest, the slowing down of the frantic pace I keep. The list goes on and on. But when we take gratitude even deeper and find the gift in being deeply uncomfortable, we can discover and transform parts of us that we usually go to extreme lengths to avoid. Consciously sitting with discomfort, with pain, with emotion. It’s not easy…we are magnificent at avoiding it. But it's there, in the stillness and in the silence, if we are willing to open that space up.
Today I found a little piece of me that I know I need to sit with. I’m grateful for the space this situation has given me, to reflect and enquire.