The Power of Gratitude

Guilty Mother - 29 Sep 18

Sometimes it’s easy to forget to say thank you. I don’t mean just thanking someone for that cup of tea or cooking dinner. I mean gratitude for what we have around us in our life. It’s so easy to bumble along on the treadmill of life thinking about the next thing…and the next. But I ask, how many of us sometimes have the chance to sit, be still and reflect on the power of gratitude?

It is my friend, Olympic Athlete and life coach, Michelle Robinson (pictured with me in the photo), who reminds me to practice gratitude, as it’s such an easy thing to forget. She tells me regularly what she is grateful for and asks me what I am grateful for in return. Sometimes I stubble over my answers. I’m not sure I know the answers. She tells me it’s okay to take a moment to think about my answer. There is no rush. She wants me to take my time. It’s not a trick question, but goodness me, it does make me sit and reflect. Naturally, the first thing that pops into my mind is that I am grateful for my health and my family.

Suddenly, some of my grand ambitions tilt to one side and I find myself focusing on what’s most important to be grateful for. I quietly tell myself – I am grateful. So, I thought I would share my top five reasons why I would encourage you to practice gratitude like I have:-

1. Creating a Positive Mindset

Making a conscious effort to identify the things I’m grateful for resets my mindset from negative to positive. As working parents many of us struggle to find balance. After nine years of parenting and running a business, l am still searching for it. I try to take five minutes in the morning to harder to switch my focus and think about what I’m grateful for, which in turn puts me in a more positive frame of mind. Suddenly I’m noticing less of the smaller annoying stuff, and when things don’t go as planned, I can keep them in perspective.

2. Being in the Present

I’ll be honest with you and say that I have never really understood mindfulness. I always feel far too ‘busy’ running from one task to another up sit still and practice mindfulness. But, like many people, I have finally realised that sitting still is as important as moving forward. So I try to take time for a walk on my own for twenty minutes (ideally without my mobile phone) to just be present and not distracted. You suddenly find yourself being grateful for the blue skies, for a field of crops. Just a moment to soak in the wonder of nature itself. I hadn’t even thought about how interested I was just watching how the tress move in the wind.

3. I suffer less Guilt

As well as being grateful for what I have, I try to be bit kinder to myself, but don’t be fooled – this is still very much ‘work in progress’. We all make mistakes all the time and as parents and in business, we are very good a beating ourselves up for making a mistake or forgetting something. Why are we so mean to ourselves?

I have come to recognise that it is okay to mess up and it’s okay not to remember everything. It is what makes us human. Being grateful to myself changes how I think. It shifts me away from self blame and guilt, to self compassion and recognition for all the things I am getting right, such as making my children feel loved and supported the best I can.

4. Take a Breath 

Many of us spend time thinking about why certain things happen in our lives, both good and bad. I often feel frustrated if things don’t happen as quickly as I want or why someone isn’t taking up an opportunity I’ve put to them. This used to make me feel het up and annoyed. But I’ve realised over time that in many occasions, things happen for a reason and they often take time.

So, in these situations, I tell myself to take a breath and find patience. I have to remind myself of my values. The things that matter to me most and that I need in my life in order to be happy. For example, being grateful for having a home and all the love that feeds in those walls. Being grateful for my business and various opportunities I’ve been given over the years. Taking a breath helps to keep me motivated and focused on where I am right now.

5. The Power of Gratitude 

There are many people in my life every day who help me make my life what it is.  I say thank you because I am genuinely enormously grateful and recognise I couldn’t do what I do without them. The gratitude journey is still very new to me but I wanted to share this with you to help you make gratitude part of your work-life balance routine.

On a final note, I should say thank you to my friend, Michelle Robinson, who, without her, I wouldn’t be writing this post at all. Thank you also to Molly Gunn (Selfish Mother) as some of my very first blog posts were shared on this platform. Selfish Mother is a wonderful, easy way for women to share their voice for the good of others. We all have to start somewhere and with blogging, it simply starts with a sentence.

So I ask, how are you feeling today? Last month, I spent a few days away with some close girlfriends in Spain which has been just the medicine I needed to remind me how grateful I am.

So if anyone asks how I’m feeling, I will tell them I am feeling positively grateful.

Guilty Mother

Guilty Mother is an honest and (sometimes funny) blog for mums who feel guilty about juggling work, kids and home-life. Here's to feeling less guilty!

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