This Holiday Season, Make “Gratitude” a Verb in Your Life

Gratitude. We see and hear the word everywhere, and especially around this time of year. We are all familiar with its meaning. According to Merriam-Webster, the word “gratitude” is a noun, meaning “a feeling of appreciation or thanks”. And the word “grateful” is an adjective, meaning “warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful.” This all makes sense and is not anything I’ve ever questioned. However, I would ask you to consider “gratitude” as a verb as well.

It is what it is

Something invaluable that I’ve learned over my years of channeling countless departed loved ones, spirit guides and angels, is that there is no greater wisdom and indication of an “old soul” than one who is in a constant state of appreciation for all that is. A grateful heart is a sign of an advanced soul, as it recognizes all the gifts in every situation and every moment, regardless of the ego’s temptation to judge, label, or analyze things as good or bad, right or wrong, beautiful or ugly, happy or sad. It’s much easier to accept whatever is, and therefore find a sense of deep gratitude within, when one is able to simply step back and recognize that everything just is, without attaching the egoic mind opinion onto it. “It is what it is,” as the saying goes.

When we make the shift from having an attitude of gratitude to actually practicing gratitude, our world around us will reflect this intention. When we show up and offer gratitude to everyone and everything around us, the universe will mirror our grateful heart back to us, sending us more reasons to be grateful. As it is with karma, what you put out there comes back to you. Why wouldn’t we want to practice giving and being in a constant state of gratitude?

Create a constant state of gratitude

Easier said than done, right? Life is messy and it’s not always easy to embody what we know we want to do or how we want to feel. I’m all about keeping it real. There are just going to be those days where we are in a bad mood, feel “off”, or don’t want to operate from our highest self. However, I believe we all want to feel more joy, happiness, inner peace, humility, and love. A simple prayer and heartfelt intention can turn that around in a moment. 

Perhaps pause and pray: 

God and Guides, please help me change my mind about this. Help me to see “this” through your eyes. Help me find the blessings and feel appreciation for all that is. Inspire me to show up and practice gratitude in everything I say and do. Help me to get out of my head, out of my fearful thinking, and into my heart, into a place of soul knowing that all is well and all is love. And so it is. 

After you’ve taken a moment to pause and pray, either mentally count your blessings or physically write them down and keep a running list of all the things you have to be grateful for. I have friends that keep a gratitude journal and write three things a day they are grateful for. However it feels best to you is how should do this exercise. 

Additionally, pay attention to the ordinary moments. Pause and send up a prayer of thanks. Decide not to take anything for granted. My husband Chris has this saying that I love: “Don’t let the extraordinary become ordinary just because it’s common.” So often we operate on auto-pilot, and what was once shiny and new becomes boring, predictable and old. What we were once over the moon excited about and grateful for, becomes expected and unappreciated. But we don’t have to become immune to what is if we choose every day to make it a habit to count our blessings, and really appreciate the fact that we get another moment to be where we are in mind, body and spirit, and to spend another day with those we love or do what we we love to do. This alone will  automatically shift us from operating out of our lower self into our higher self, from a state of disconnect to total alignment, and from fear to love.

“Don’t let the extraordinary become ordinary just because it’s common.”

Every experience is an opportunity

The soul knows what the mind has forgotten—that everything we experience gives us the opportunity to grow and evolve our soul, to become wiser, kinder and more compassionate and loving beings. When we are able to recognize the gift in everything, we feel an authentic deep appreciation for the gift of being alive on this wild, juicy ride! This knowing can’t help but change and transform us on a soul level, to become that living expression of God’s light and love. 

So this holiday season, I invite you to take steps that allow gratitude to become a verb in your life.