Five years ago, my husband and I decided to take the biggest leap of our lives. We resigned from our jobs, sold our belongings, and moved continents with four children in tow, the youngest just four weeks old.
Leading up to this leap, we were surrounded by so many occurrences that confirmed we were headed in the right direction. We experienced thinking an idea, speaking it, and watching it come to pass in our lives. It was exhilarating. Something powerful was happening. There were many challenges but equally many victories, and it felt easy to be grateful, confident, and positive.
Then we moved. We leapt.
A new pace of life. A new culture. A new language. New expectations. And a new baby.
About a year into our new life, I began to feel lost. I floated through the days of my own life like an unwanted apparition. I blamed the pace, the culture, the language, the expectations of who I was supposed to be, strangers, and even my baby. I was simply sad.
The lens through which you view life is so vital, and at that time, I saw very little good.
I befriended a fellow parent at my children’s school. Every day she posted about gratitude. Encouragement, reflections, or quotes, without fail. At first, I thought she would grow tired of it. But she did not. After nearly two years of reading her posts, I finally decided to explore what this gratitude practice was all about.
In November 2019, I began posting one thing I was grateful for each day. I continued throughout 2020 and still do today. Somewhere along the way, something shifted. My lens changed. My inner voice softened. My expectations evolved. My relationship with others improved, and most importantly, so did my relationship with myself.
When I discovered the Gratitude App, it helped me pair my daily reflections with supportive quotes. Friends began to notice. If I missed a day, they reached out to check on me. Some even began their own daily gratitude practice.
I imagine gratitude like a single match being lit, passing light from one to another in a gentle chain.
Intentionally practicing gratitude has enhanced my life and returned it to me. Even on the greyest days, I can find something to be thankful for. One particularly challenging day, I wrote that I was grateful no parent had ever died as a result of a child’s tantrum. It was that kind of day.
I continue moving forward. This year, I have added vision boards to my practice, and I am excited to see where this journey leads. Grateful, no doubt.
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