Mindful Gratitude Exercise #6: Be Thankful for Things in the Future NOW

"The daily practice of gratitude is one of the conduits by which your wealth will come to you."

-Wallace Wattles

I often struggle with getting caught up in my daydreams, always believing the future is going to be better than the present somehow.  If you, like me, find yourself perpetually stuck in the future, again, just like in Exercise #5, use it to your advantage and go ahead and be thankful for those things that you're wishing for as if they're right there in front of you.  Don't be surprised if they actually start showing up as a result of this practice!

On the contrary, if you're worrying about some potential calamity, a great way to bring yourself back to the present moment is to be thankful that it hasn't happened, that so far it's only in your mind, and that you can always re-direct your mind to something else.

“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”
  -Anthony Robbins 

Many people are slaves to "future thinking."  Is this something you struggle with?  Or have you found a way to overcome it, perhaps with the "thanking in advance" technique?  Let me know!

Mindful Gratitude Exercise #5: Be Thankful for Things in the Past NOW

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”
-Alphonse Karr

One of my favorite books of all time is "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle.  If you've read it, then you're familiar with Eckhart's statements about the Pain-Body and it how it feeds on the past:

[The Pain Body] will create negative situations in your life so that it can feed on the energy. It wants more pain, in whatever form. It is pure pain, past pain – and it is not you. 

The truth is that the only power there is is contained within this moment: It is the power of your presence. Once you know that, you also realize that you are responsible for your inner space now – nobody else is – and that the past cannot prevail against the power of the Now.

Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

Mindful Gratitude Exercise #5 will be helpful to you if you are someone who repeatedly feeds their Pain-Body by continually reliving the past, either by constantly yearning for "better days gone by", or by never-ending-ly obsessing about how negative your life situation has been up until now.

With a little practice, you can learn to be thankful NOW for things that have happened in your past, negative AND positive.  On the positive end of the spectrum, you can be thankful for all the pleasant memories you have, maybe even dwelling on particular ones and reliving the feelings they bring up, and being thankful for those feelings as well, both that you got to feel them "then", and most of all that you get to feel them "NOW".

If you frequently think about some part of your past that you consider to be negative, turn it around by being thankful that it didn't turn out worse than it did, or try to find some things that you DID appreciate about the situation, and realize those positive aspects of the situation didn't have to be there.  In other words, "it could've been worse."  Find the roses on your particular thorns.  They are always there!  You just have to look for them.

WARNING:  This exercise can be annoying and counterproductive at first if you're not careful!  It's wise to spend only a few minutes at a time at it if you're just beginning your gratitude and mindfulness practice.  Start by jotting down a few positive things about your past in your Gratitude Journal instead of sitting and letting your mind run wild on past negative events.  Remember to take baby steps!  A good rule of thumb is, if you feel any type of bad feeling creeping up in your body, STOP immediately!  Gratitude and mindfulness should ALWAYS feel good.  The feelings associated with them are unmistakable, you'll always know when you're getting it right.

Let me know if you try this exercise, and what your results were!  Or, if you know other effective ways of making peace with your past in the present moment, feel free to share that as well!

Mindful Gratitude Exercise #4: Thank You for the Things That Didn't Go Wrong Today, That Could've

"If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."

-- Rabbi Harold Kushner

Think of all the tragic things that happen every day to people you know or have heard about.  Now stop and think about your own life situation for a moment.  What has kept these things from happening to you or your loved ones?  Only the grace of your Higher Power!  As they say, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."  It can be an amazingly gratifying experience to sit back and realize how bad things COULD be, but aren't.


Here are some examples of things that COULD'VE gone wrong for you, but thank God they didn't:


-Maybe you drove today, and didn't get in an accident.


-Maybe you or a loved one DID get in an accident, but there was no injury or loss of life.


-Maybe you were speeding today, but didn't get a ticket.

-Maybe you ate a large amount of food, and didn't gain any unwanted weight.


-Maybe you've made it to your current age without any serious illnesses or injuries.


-I know you've been eating everyday just like the rest of us...and when was the last time you got food poisoning?

-Same goes for breathing, we all do it all the time...yet when was the last time you contracted an airborne illness?


-Maybe you've used a knife, but didn't cut yourself.


-Perhaps you've been walking through your house or apartment without suffering any stubbed or broken toes (it has happened to me before!).

 


-Maybe you've been walking or otherwise moving, without suffering any pulled muscles or broken bones.


-Maybe you're an alcohol drinker, but you've never gotten alcohol poisoning, or a DUI.


-Maybe you're one of the many people who smoke marijuana on a regular basis, but have never been arrested.

-Maybe you drive on a regular basis, and your car never breaks down.


-Just about all of us use electricity, yet it's very rare to hear of someone being electrocuted.


-I don't know about you, but I've left my house just about every day for the past 33 years, and I have yet to be assaulted or robbed.

-Maybe you are one of the many among us who did NOT get a call that one of your friends or family members passed away during the previous night.


-When WAS the last time you got a call with some REALLY bad news?  I've never gotten one that I can think of.


-Maybe your child made it through school all last week/month/year without any suspensions or expulsions.

-Many of us peacefully went to work, and no one came in and "went postal."


-Again, I can't speak for anyone else, but last night I went to sleep, and this morning I woke up alive!


-A lot of us use electronics in a given day, and the devices usually do not break, and most or all work exactly the way they're supposed to, every time.

-Maybe you haven't had a home invasion today, or since last week/month/year, or ever.


-Maybe you don't feel any pain in your body right now.


-Perhaps you are able to use the bathroom without pain.


-Or, whenever you have the urge to use the bathroom, you have enough control over your body to wait until you get yourself situated in the bathroom to address the urge properly (many can't do this!).

-Perhaps you didn't suffer any annoying advances from unwanted suitors today.


-Maybe you didn't have any rashes or pimples or other breakouts today.  (I struggled with breakouts as a teenager, so that one is very special to me.)


-Maybe you have sex with your partner, or with whoever, as many people do, and you don't have any sexually transmitted diseases.

The list could go on and on.  You'll notice, after just a few minutes of thinking up things for this exercise, you will find yourself almost WEAK with good feelings.  And notice--all these situations you are grateful for are the way things are RIGHT NOW.  Gratitude is the best way I've found to stay anchored in the Present!

I'm sure you can find many other examples in your own life similar to the ones I've listed here.  Leave a comment below and share some of them with me, I'd love to hear them!

Mindful Gratitude Exercise #3: Comparative Gratitude

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

-Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

For this exercise, simply think of things in your life that can fill in the blank in the sentence below.

Compared to _______, I'm very lucky!

Every time you think of a person or group of people to add to your list, the reasons why you're better off will automatically become apparent to you, and before you know it, your heart and mind will be absolutely filled to bursting with gratitude! From there, enjoy the feeling of gratitude in your body.

Here are some Comparative Gratitude fill-in-the-blank examples to get you started:

 Compared to_______, I'm very lucky!
-people in the 1800's
-people in third world countries
-people with serious and/or terminal illnesses
-homeless people
-people in jail
-young people
-old people
-black people
-white people
-men
-women
-married people
-single people
-people with children
-people without children
-people with jobs
-people without jobs
-people in mental institutions
-people in the ghetto
-people in the suburbs
-rich people
-poor people
-famous people
-non-famous people
-your boss
-your employees
-coworkers
-students
-people who own businesses
-people who don't own businesses
-educated people
-uneducated people
-performers
-spectators
-servants
-slaves
-prostitutes
-battered women
-abused children
-the old "me"

Have fun with the exercise, and let me know some of the ideas you come up with!

Mindful Gratitude Exercise #2: Look for Things You've Never Noticed Before

Similar to Exercise #1, but this time, look around in the moment and notice things that may have always been there, but you've never seen them before.  As with Exercise #1, once you locate something, focus on it and think of some way to be grateful for it.

Three (3) Things I've Never Noticed Before in My Present Environment:

1. "Music" in the Environment
You can hear actual musical notes in the sounds that result from a spoon hitting the sides of a teacup.  The main notes are about a half step away from each other.  Interesting!

Why I'm Thankful for This:
 I love music, for one.  And I'm thankful for that sound reminding me of how present I used to be when I was a teenager; I remember hearing music in everything!  One of my favorite "songs" in high school used to be the sound of the office copier.  Thanks Spoon and Teacup, for inspiring me to achieve that level of Presence again!


2. Things "Hidden" in Plain Sight
The Windows logo on the "Start" button (bottom left-hand corner) is a billowing flag with four equal-sized blocks of color: Red (or is it orange?) and green on top, blue and yellow on the bottom.

Why I'm Thankful for This:
Thanks Windows logo, for showing me just how often I've been walking around with my eyes closed.  Quite alarming.  How many years has that been there right in front of my face, and I haven't noticed it??  Wake up Robyn!!!  And thanks too to Windows, for all the things you do that make my life and the lives of so many other people easier.  Thanks to all you Operating Systems out there.  What would we do without you? 


3. Something Important I've Never Looked At Before
There are two sturdy "columns" extending up from the support base of my monitor, holding up the actual screen portion.

Why I'm Thankful for This:
Thank you columns, for holding up my monitor for me!!  Day in and day out, without the slightest complaint, or the slightest malfunction.  And I have the nerve to never look at you or think about you??  Forgive me monitor columns.  Thanks for all you do for me.


So what about you?  Are there any things in your presence right now that you can honestly say you've never seen or noticed before?  How about in your house?  Or in your neighborhood?  What color is the house next door to you?  You'll probably be shocked at how many things you will find.


Here are some examples of things we often fail to notice:
-sunlight on our skin
-our breathing
-the sounds and movements people make around us
-the taste of our food
-sensations in our body
-the colors of things
-the words written on everyday items
-what the people around you like (for example, the exact brand and flavor of a friend's favorite snack)
-little details of things
-the names and addresses of the websites we visit
-the names of the online articles we read


Practicing being aware of your surroundings is an easy and great way to flex your mindfulness muscles.  Don't get discouraged or anxious if it's really hard at first, and don't get overwhelmed if you find a huge amount of things that you haven't been paying attention to.  Just keep at it, even for a little while everyday, and with time you will notice improvement, both in your ability to stay present, and in the quality of your life.  There's something about mindfulness that makes everything in life a little better!  (For example, I swear the raw orange pepper I had for breakfast this morning was THE most fragrant and tasty meal of my life!)  And mindfulness coupled with gratitude, well--the sky's the limit. ;)

When you find some surprising things you haven't noticed before, share them with me, along with whatever reason you can find to feel gratitude about it!  I look forward to your comments.