Cape Town 2010

You should watch this: Join the Global Conversation.

Transformative Power of Gratitude

This week was quite demanding to say the least. Just when I thought I was on top of things, a pop-up from no where would show up over and over, like a long math equation.

Side-track: usually I sleep with a pen and note book next to my bed to write down a to-do list, sort of downloading my brain before I fall asleep, (could be things as dumb as “trim your nails”)
and when I wake up it helps me plan my day…
So as usual the night before, I had written down 3 things that must be done before the end of my working week. Upon waking, this morning, I felt like I had cobwebs all over my brain, totally jaded before I even lifted a finger.

As I pondered upon my predicament, an idea bolted into my mind… So here’s it. I decided to have a creative quiet time! I picked up the same pen and paper, but decided to write down things that happened recently that I am grateful for. Before long, I was feeling turbo-charged.

It didn’t end on paper, It made me so mindful of every little thing that I did through the day as I continually experienced a string of aha! moments, almost back to back... From the rain that started just when I was walking to work and me feeling glad to go back home and find the umbrella I hadn’t used in a while, to successfully loading a new cartridge in my printer at the office, oh, and the best was when I went to the post office to mail stuff that I thought would cost me a fortune, only to be told it was only R7!
I could go on and on to tell you about how grateful I felt when I had just about the right quantity of cauliflower and broccoli to make my lunch more nutritious, or the spontaneous 1 hr of dancing to some techno music as a device to ward off the silly cold weather.

As I returned to the point where I started the day (obviously my bed in case you forgot), I decided to watch a movie before blacking out. Half way through the movie, I was saying to myself…why am I watching this trash? Do you want to know what I watched?
Anyway, I don’t want to begin a movie review, so will skip details…at the end of the movie, I felt like I felt when I woke up in the morning, useless and empty-headed. I told myself, this c**p movie can’t be the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep, I must listen to something uplifting. So I went into my iTunes, searching for a not-so-long inspirational podcast. I came across one I hadn’t played before, and a name I don’t even know. It was an interview with Sarah Ban Breathnach. I started listening. Guess what she was talking about? ….drum roll…..GRATITUDE!
She wrote the book “Simple Abundance”. Her opening line was “you need to write at least 5 things you are grateful for each day”.
So I figured out writing this blog tonight will be my creative way of acknowledging “Gratitude”…

PS. and I did write another list longer than the one I wrote in the morning, I feel great and grateful – full circle huh?