Gratitude is both a feeling and an action

Fatigue, stress, frustrations, irritability, and unmet expectations are all very real. They are like loose threads in an otherwise tightly knit sweater. Threatening to unravel into a pile of worn yarn if pulled. Despite knowing this, we can all have the inclination and impulse to pull those loose threads! At certain times, we cannot see past our focus on the loose threads enough to notice that, within that same sweater, there are many more threads that remain woven into a beautiful pattern and function.

I’m not suggesting ignoring or discounting the loose threads; but can you also make enough space to appreciate all the intact threads and the sweater as whole? Can you see the memories and stories and beauty in the worn sweater as well? On any given day, your sweater may be an intimate relationship, a colleague, a friend, your work … or even your relationship to yourself.

When we live and work and love from a space of deficiency and longing, frustrations abound and we can easily find many loose threads. When we take a perspective of gratitude and sufficiency, happiness unfolds. Gratitude is not only a feeling; it is an action as well. Over the next month, may you find simple ways every day to resist the temptation to pull at the loose threads and, instead, experience and express your gratitude and appreciation for what IS, rather than what IS NOT. May you do this towards others and, most importantly, with yourself.