Doing Beautiful Things

And a meditation on gratitude.

Hello there.

It’s a busy time of year and I appreciate you being here when there seems to be much else to do.

I have written about gratitude practices in this space before. There are many ways to show our deep appreciation for things. Saying thank you is the most obvious one. And that comes after the fact, right? We are acknowledging and stating appreciation for something that has already happened. Thank you for the ride. Thank you for coming by. Thank you for the fruitcake. You get the idea.

Photo by Bas van den Eijkhof

But, I love the additional idea of a gratitude practice for us all to take forward. What if we were to prepare our gratitude in advance of a situation, before it ever happens? For example, you wake up and think about all the things that you know will happen. I am going on a trip today. I am grateful to my sister for taking the time out of her hectic life to drive me to the airport. Instead of rushing into the car, I think how lucky I am to have an hour with someone I love. What’s more, I’m grateful to people working in the airline industry. Can you imagine what they must put up with?

Typically, we get caught up in the moment when we're in it. I get nervous before I fly and am usually fretting over that. What if I approached travel with gratitude instead of fear? Sounds like a preferable way to live. It's often difficult when you're distracted or busy to remember gratitude, so even holding both thoughts would help. I’m nervous, but I appreciate the experts who are making it safe for travellers.

You can at least partially project into the future what state you want to be in, and that can set the tone for the day ahead. Bring this disposition into your day — it’s worth trying — and soon, perhaps, it will become a habit.

I am going to continue to review my day before I fall asleep, and mine it for gratitude and wonder, but I am also going to do my best to project this air of giving thanks onto my day before I live it and to as many of its events as I can muster —a trip, even to the grocery store, can be made more special with a smidgeon of, hey how lucky I am that this great store is right down the street, and how cool are the people who work here.

Have a great day. Hope to see you back here next week.