let's be grateful

So lately, in addition to chanting the Doxology and the Lord's prayer in my head when I feel anxious, I've been trying to turn my thoughts to gratitude rather than pain or fear. It's definitely hard work, our most common thought patterns are the easiest to think and the hardest habits to break. But I need to keep training my brain to focus on the good in my life rather than all the things that might go wrong with it.

Before my yoga class last night, I was laying on my mat and just breathing in and out the things I'm so grateful for. I told myself that I would do this until the instructor started speaking - it was probably 5 minutes. I let myself start small and just see where I went from there. At times, I repeated things and started my list over, but I am determined to make gratitude a common thought.

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Here is my list of things I'm grateful for today - in no particular order:
a perfect cup of tea
a new tea cup
finishing a good book
a new grey dress
my family
my mother (happy birthday momma!)
my coworkers
saying "i love you"
the fact that I have things to look forward to - tonight, tomorrow, the next day, next week
my job
san diego december
health
yoga
cute yoga pants that make me feel strong
kind people
good drivers
trader joes
Christmas music
vegetables for breakfast
new nail polish
pastels
dark chocolate


See? If I can practice gratitude toward even the small details of my daily life, I can make it a habit and can be grateful for big things too. Then maybe my mind won't flip to panic so easily and I can work on having a better perspective when things get tough.

xoxo