🔼: ##### 🕯️ Gratitude [[On Tools, Skills, and Practices...]] It’s okay to want more, to want change, or to leave circumstances which don’t nurture our souls. The point of a gratitude practice is not to shame ourselves into being happy or guilt ourselves into feeling grateful, but to serve as a kind of reminder and give us more [[☀️ Clarity]] when our [[💡 Protector Parts|Protectors]] and our [[💡 Negativity Bias|Negativity Bias]] start to give us tunnel vision. The goal is not to pretend to be happy to have things we don't care about or to perpetuate [[💡 Toxic Positivity|Toxic Positivity]], it's to [[🔑 stand in the bright spots]], to bring to mind some of what we really are genuinely grateful for — to bring it into the foreground instead of leaving it unnoticed in the background. It’s like running counter to that saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Gratitude is a kind of reminder of what’s true for us, not a way to shame us out of our feelings or wanting more for ourselves. [[🔑 We have no obligation to cope with what we can change]]. Places where we lack gratitude, or even feel [[💡 Resentment|Resentment]], [[💡 Jealousy|Jealousy]], or [[💡 Envy|Envy]] can reveal hidden [[💡 Desires|Desires]] or what’s important to us. Gratitude leads to [[🕯️ Love]]. ###### In Practice - Make a list of 5-10 things you're grateful for in your journal each day (I sometimes like to do 5 in the morning and 5 before bed). - Gratitude Game: Take turns naming things you are grateful for with a partner. This feels quite silly at first so feel free to be snarky. “I’m grateful for the hair that I want to pull out of my head right now.” After a few rounds it can soften into genuine gratitude work. Even if it doesn’t, maybe you’ll get a good laugh out of it with your partner. - Gratitude variation: you have to name something you're grateful for starting with one letter of the alphabet. How many things are you thankful for that start with the letter "w"? Are you really grateful for whales? - A Love & Gratitude Letter: “Dear... One thing I appreciate about you is… When I’m around you I feel… I just wanted to say…” - Think of a time when… - …you made a joke that landed. - …you caught a bus, train, or flight just in time. - …you canceled plans and had a better time at home. - …you made something you thought was just okay but others really loved. - …you had a meaningful conversation or moment with a stranger. ###### See Also - [[🧘 Five Finger Gratitude Practice]] - [[🔑 Let the good land]] [^1]: (The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice | Huberman Lab Podcast #47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjfFN89qvQ)