Using the power of gratitude to foster personal growth

Practicing gratitude is a skill that can be used to help foster an abundance mindset over a lack mindset. Gratitude helps change your perspective from “Why did this happen to me?” to “Why did this happen for me?” The vibration of gratitude helps to keep us energetically balanced because we maintain a positive charge when we’re grateful, and then we will attract more positive things into our lives to be grateful for. So no matter how small, bothersome, or inconvenient something seems, it is always beneficial to practice gratitude. No matter how terrible something seems, as long as you have breath in your lungs you have something to be grateful for.

Retraining your mind to think grateful thoughts over negative ones is not as hard as it seems. Gratitude is a contagious and addicting habit to form, and it can relieve a lot of anxiety and stress in your life. Creating a gratitude habit helps you to attract more positive outcomes into your life, which in turn brings on more gratitude. It creates an upward momentum in life, and can shift you out of a negative thought spiral. You can start a daily practice by writing down 5 things that you are thankful for daily and spend some time contemplating them, then go from there, you just have to make it an effort and a habit.

Ahhh…habits. Starting habits. Making changes. It is a lot easier said than done. I know how annoying it is to hear people say “Just think happy thoughts.” “Just be positive.” I get it…I’ve been there. Not everyone has the capacity to hear that. It can really trigger you. Some people want validation for their pain and suffering, and some people want to perpetuate their pain and suffering. Some people will never be able to move past something that has happened for them. No matter how many good things that happen in life, some people will always choose suffering, either consciously or unconsciously, and that is ok. You must let them. We all have free will, and happiness is a choice. Every soul has their own path and mission to align with…let them, and allow yourself to align with yours.

You cannot save anybody in this life but yourself. You can have empathy and compassion for them, but as the Buddha said, if your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. You are allowed to have boundaries in your life that allow you to live a harmonious, prosperous, and peaceful life. It’s actually your duty. Your life is for YOU, and is not meant to be lived for someone else. You don’t have to take Negative Nancy along for the ride. (No offense to any beautiful Nancys out there!). I hope you understand what I mean. If someone isn’t for you, they are against you, and that includes yourself first and foremost! Are you showing up for yourself or are you betraying yourself? You have a right to move on from relationships that aren’t for you, including the one that you have with yourself.

It’s like you are the controller of your avatar in this game called Earth School. You can choose how to program yourself, how to function, and how to act. Again, everyone has free will. There are a few rules, but mainly just two. Love your neighbor as yourself, and treat others how you’d like to be treated. How well you love your Self, determines at what capacity you are able to love another. How well you respect your Self determines how well you can respect others. It all starts within. I guarantee you, every mean bully out there is really a very hurt and emotionally stunted person who does not respect themselves. They cannot love and respect others because they do not possess the capacity to love and respect themselves. They need compassion, empathy, and firm boundaries, as we have a right to protect ourselves from harm.

So how do we do this? How do we change? How do we learn to love ourselves for real? I believe there is only one way to do it.

Change your vibration. Plain and simple. It’s all that matters. Everything in life is vibration, and you can change yours by changing the way you think. Everything in life is a mental game. Stop consuming things that lower your vibration, and replace them with things that raise your vibration. These low-vibe things and habit to avoid also happen to coincide with the low vibrational energies of the “seven deadly sins” and I don’t believe it’s a coincidence. I believe many enlightened masters, Jesus included, who have come before us understood energy, vibration, and the unseen laws of the universe and taught them the best that they could during the times of their incarnations.

If you find yourself in one, some, or all of these energies, you’re not alone and you can change. We all mess up. It’s ok. Forgive yourself and try again.

Sloth - Stop comforting yourself with laziness. A body in motion stays in motion, a body at rest stays at rest. You are not entitled to anything from anyone, and many of your issues would be solved with exercise and discipline. You have a duty to care for your body, mind, and soul, and can overcome anything. You just need momentum.

Anger - Stop being mad at other people. They are only a reflection of yourself. Projecting anger at others is you being defensive about feeling vulnerable. You feel sad underneath. I’m sorry for your sadness. It is real and valid, but your anger is telling you that your energy body has too much sadness built up and you need to relieve it. Sadness is often linked to shame, which is the lowest emotion that we can vibrate at. You can get out of it and get through it, it just requires momentum.

Gluttony- stop consuming. Consuming anything to avoid feeling is gluttony in my opinion. That could be food, alcohol, drugs, sugar, shopping, social media, porn, sex, video games, etc.. Alarming fact - you become 100% of what you consume. From the food you eat to the the TV you watch. How you care for your avatar and program your beliefs is up to you, but no one gets through life without experiencing pain. You must face your fear of facing yourself and your feelings. I know that you can do it, you just need momentum.

Envy - Stop being jealous of other people. That which you desire in another are the aspects in yourself that you reject. Envy stems from self-betrayal on every level. If you are envious of another you are judging yourself, and giving your power and energy away to them. So literally, on a subconscious level, what you say about others is how you really feel about yourself. So don’t be envious. You have no idea what another person has been through just as they have no idea about what you’ve been through. Wanting what they want or have is just dumb and it’s terrible for your solar plexus. Focus on you, it’s your energy. It’s a hard mental program to overcome, but you can do it. And yes, you guessed it, you need momentum to override this programming too.

Pride- Stop thinking you’re better than anyone else. Your pride is what prevents you from getting help and admitting to mistakes. It prevents you from seeing others too. Pride keeps us stuck in the blame game loop, always blaming others for our misfortunes. This low vibrational energy breeds competition with others and is rooted in having very low self worth and self-esteem. Pride blocks vulnerability and authenticity. Overcoming pride requires humility and forgiveness. You need momentum to be able to humble yourself and admit your faults.

Lust - Stop wasting your sexual energy. Your sexual energy is the very energy of creation alive within you. There’s nothing shameful about our sexual nature as humans. We all have sex, we all have urges, and we need to have sex to procreate and maintain our species. But when you exchange your sexual energy with others, you take on their energy as well. If you are seeking a high vibrational life, it’s important to conserve your sexual energy through practices like celibacy, abstinence, and monogamy. If you can discipline yourself with your sexual energy, you can get through many temptations in life. Your sexual energy can be very healing and purifying when we learn how to channel it up and out of the root chakra. If you’re stuck in a cycle of lust - you can overcome it…it just takes momentum.

Greed- Stop hoarding your wealth and posessions. You cant take anything with you when you die. Your resources are needed here on Earth. Your fellow humans are dying from starvation, dis-ease, war, and homelessness. The Earth is suffering from our materialism and the pollution it creates. You don’t need stuff, you need connection. Work with those in need if you want to stop your greed. It comes from a scarcity mindset and can be overcome. It just takes momentum.

Momentum…what does that mean? In physics, momentum is the tendency of an object to stay in motion based on its mass and velocity. We all have a natural state of momentum and intertia within us. Inertia is an object’s resistance to a change in velocity due to mass. But what happens when we apply those concepts to our mind and thinking patterns? If your e-motional body is stuck in a state of inertia, you cannot gain the momentum you need to move forward in life. Your e-motions will block forward movement.

This is like in the case of depression. The e-motional body is often stuck in time in the past, due to the heavy mass and inertia of the emotional energy of a traumatic event a body has been holding onto. People labeled with depression don’t need drugs in my opinion. They need rest, understanding, and time to process their emotions. We need to process the past in order to move forward, otherwise you will be stuck in that low vibrational state and keep attracting low vibrational things to you. I don’t believe in depression anymore. Humans aren’t “depressed”, we need deep rest. We’re tired AF. Humans have become slaves for cooperations and for others’ greed. For most of this on this planet, it’s exhausting to be a human. We are mostly operating from a state of survival in varying degrees. We have not been programmed to rest, we’ve been programmed to work, attain material possessions, save up enough money to afford to be financially free, and then hopefully quit work one day when were old. Then, and only then if you’re not too sick already, are you allowed to rest and pursue your interests.

Am I the only one who sees what a crock of shit that is? Excuse my language, but I think it’s appropriate in this situation.

We are meant to play NOW. We are meant to be happy NOW. Why work so hard for greed? What do you really need?

We need to be free and sovereign beings. Without freedom, we are slaves, and we will be stuck in the perpetual cycle of poverty and suffering where our growth is purposely restricted for the selfish greed of others. We need nutritious food, shelter, warmth, and clean water. We need honest leaders. We need love and connection with our inner selves and each other, and to have empathy for our fellow humans. That’s about it. Everything else is a bonus, and life isn’t about hoarding your bonuses, it’s about sharing them and giving them to others who need them. We are all the same, it’s just pride that prevents us from truly seeing the Truth.

Anyway….back to physics and momentum….

For example, picture a large boulder sitting at the top of a hill. It’s still. Its mass and inertia prevent it from moving. But, with enough force, push that boulder down the hill and it overcomes it’s inertia, gains velocity, and with it’s momentum rolls down the hill until it encounters an opposing force great enough to overcome it’s momentum and slow it down or stop it.

Now what if our thoughts and behaviors are similar? We can be stuck in our thinking patterns and not able to move forward in life, even though we want to, like in the case with “depression.” What if all we need is to be able to generate an amount of force inside us that is so big it can overcome our natural state of inertia and give us that momentum we need to move forward? What if we can literally power ourselves through self-empowerment? I believe that we can, and I think this is important because once we are able to generate our own power, we don’t need seek it from outside of us. We become sovereign beings…how beautiful is that!

We learn how to love ourselves, for real and for good.

So when you decide you’re ready to make a big change, you have to start small. It’s hard to quit or start something big if you cant already quit or start something small, successfully. In anything we do, it’s always wise to set ourselves up for success. Starting with a small positive habit, like a gratitude practice, is relatively simple and easy but it also helps give you the positive momentum you need to keep going and make more positive choices in your life. It’s a good habit that attracts more good habits. All you need to do is generate that positive force of growth within your energy field. The energy of growth, no matter how big or small, will attract more. Like attracts like. And as you master the small changes, you will naturally build the confidence you need to achieve more, and then you tackle the bigger changes. Your momentum grows. When you create healthy habits to overcome the unhealthy ones in your life, you create new patterns and rewire your brain. Master that gratitude attitude and the world will unfold for you.

There is always something to be grateful for in life, so just focus on that. If you have food, water, shelter, and your health you are better off than a lot of folks on this planet. So it is good practice to start there. We often overlook the basics but that’s where you should start if you want real change. Start at the foundation. There is an invisible energetic hierarchy to the universe. The universe knows better and is much smarter than you. Trust in it. Gratitude helps build this trust in the universe and removes the obstacles in your mind that can make life feel hard. Practicing gratitude is one way of working smarter, not harder, because it’s the cornerstone of manifesting.

Living in gratitude for what you already have is fundamental for real manifestation work. The universe will not give you more if you show disdain with what you already have, or if you show inability to manage what it is that you want. You need to co-create and also be the kind of human who can handle what is is that you want. The universe wants to give you what you want, but you have to be able to handle what you have, be grateful for it, and be ready to receive more. But if you’re always complaining about what you don’t have and focusing on hardships instead of being grateful for what you do have and everything that’s going well for you, well the universe isn’t going to give you anything more because you’re rejecting what it’s already given you. Instead, you need to come to innerstand that you co-create your reality with the universe. When you are truly grateful for everything you have and ready to receive more, then the universe gives you more. You can’t force it, just flow, trust, be grateful, and work towards what you want.

My life might not be aligned to others’ standards, but it’s aligned with me and that’s my priority. I don’t need to please other people to be happy anymore. When I align with what is good for me and my soul, I become more magnetic and draw in more abundance into my life. Abundance does not always come in the form of dollars and material goods. To me, the most precious commodity I have is my peace. No matter what happens in my life, no one can take that from me and that brings true wealth, security, and stability. I know who I AM and I accept who I AM…all of me, even the nasty bits. And for that, I AM grateful. Love me or hate me, I could care less. People have said the worst about me, I don’t care. I AM equally both light and dark, as are you. I AM at peace with myself and I refuse to reject any parts of me because I AM the way that I AM because of every experience that was given to me in this lifetime so far.

My experiences have given me immense wealth, all of them. I AM incredibly grateful. I cannot have only the good without the bad. We all have to have energetic balance within us- it’s the natural law. I am reminded of the Reiki principles of Mikao Usui. Living by them has helped to transform my life by bring in more presence.

Just for today, don’t get angry.

Just for today, don’t worry.

Just for today, be grateful.

Just for today, be honest in your work.

Just for today, be kind to yourself and others.

So just for today, be grateful and see how you can incorporate a gratitude practice into your day and cultivate that attitude of gratitude within you. I am grateful for you, reader, and I wish you peace and blessings on your journey. May the love that you put out into the world return to you tenfold. I believe you are worthy of healing and finding peace. You are already perfectly whole and healed in the eyes of God.

Your experiences, pain, and your e-motions are valid, but only you can do the work to free yourself from your suffering. No one else can do it for you. Only you can learn to let go and make peace with your past. No one knows your past or is responsible for it or any of the e-motions generated from it but you. Only you can let go of your fear and worry. Only you can discipline yourself. Only you can control yourself. You are the only one who can do this for yourself. You are your own sovereign being, and there is no one else more capable of the job.

P.S. - When I started to write this post last month, it was bitterly cold outside, and I was practicing gratitude for having power and heat. My kid and I slept on the couch in front of the fire the night before, and we dozed off to a documentary about sound in animals and nature. When I woke up the next day, I sat in the glow of the fireplace, cozy under a weighted blanket with a cup of tea. My sweet child was sleeping soundly next to me, her breathing rhythmic and soothing in the quiet and stillness of the early morning hours. I felt grateful for my all of my abundance. I felt like a king, because, after everything I had been through in life, I had come to know that moments like those are the sweetest of them all and I try to cherish them. La dolce vita. I’m aware of the peace I have cultivated for myself and my child and I AM grateful.

P.S.S.- It’s also no coincidence that as I sat down to edit this one evening, I looked up after reading the part on my la dolce vita moment and I was given another one. A gorgeous red and pink sunset was painting the sky, and the way it reflected on the snow and through the icicles looked like pure magic. And so I said a bunch of thank yous and I bundled up as quickly as I could and ran down to the lake to get a picture for the blog. By the time I got down there the colors had started to fade some, but it was still a gorgeous watermelon ruby sunset, pure passion in the sky 😍

Proverbs 8:11

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