Mindful Gratitude Exercise #8: Mundane Task Gratefulness

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.
-- Albert Clarke

As you probably know, it is essential to stop trying to escape the present moment if you are ever going to learn to love and enjoy ALL of your life.  Using this exercise, you can breathe new life into tasks that are currently annoying or boring to you.  With time and practice,  you will be blown away by how much joy you will begin to derive from the very activities that formerly weighed you down with negativity.  Loving every moment of your life is always the goal!  And learning to love your everyday chores (or "Home Kung Fu, as I like to call it) is a great way to make that happen.

The next time you are doing something mundane, like washing dishes or mowing the lawn, focus on an object in the moment and think of some way to be grateful for it, directly or indirectly.  

For example, you may look at a dish and think, "thank you for letting my eyes see such a beautiful shade of yellow."  Or "thank you for the food that was on this dish."  Or perhaps "thank you for providing this dish to hold my food for me."  

(I mean really, what WOULD we do without dishes??  Like Bebe and Cece sang years ago, "don't wanna think about it...I said I don't wanna think about it...")

While mowing the lawn, you could say, "thank you for making it so easy to cut the grass compared to olden days."  Or "thank you for the row I just cut, and therefore won't have to cut again until next week."   Those are causes for celebration!

(Or, if you DO cut grass like in days of yore, rejoice that you have the body strength and agility to get the job done!  I imagine that's an activity that would take some serious skill.  I'm sure not everyone can do it!)

You can do the same thing while paying bills, or while making your daily commute.  "Thank you for letting me have enough money in my bank account to pay these bills."  "Thank you for my independence."  "Thank you for allowing me to have a car."

(Or a bike, or two good working legs!  No matter what category you fall into, you can ALWAYS find something to be extremely thankful for, something that others don't have and WISH they had.)

WARNING: Don't be surprised at how fascinating and beautiful your world will become through this practice!  You will find yourself marveling at how you could have possibly missed all this beauty around you in the past, and your heart will be filled to overflowing with gratitude and wonder.  (I spontaneously break out singing Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" on a regular basis, complete with tears! :-D)  You will start to realize the fundamental truth of this statement: With so many beautiful things to look at, who has time to complain?

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Let me know if you have any success with Exercise #8!  I look forward to hearing about your experiences.