Appreciating Others
Welcome back beloveds!
We are on the 6th day of our Gratitude Challenge and today we’re going to talk about appreciating other people. From family members, to colleagues and people we pass on the street, let’s take a look at Gratitude in a wider sense.
In creating your gratitude practice you are learning to be more mindful of life’s details, the good, the bad, the indifferent. By homing in on the good (No matter how small) you are beginning to bring GOOD to the forefront of your experience.
You interact with a lot of people on a daily basis, so I feel that it’s important to also include them in your practice.
You don’t have to like everyone. The appreciation of others can be very subtle.
Let’s break it down.
It’s easy to be grateful for the good in our lives, but it’s important to be appreciative of ALL OF IT. No matter how someone makes us feel, there is a lesson there about ourselves and with that comes an opportunity for growth.
If there is someone you dislike, you may feel more comfortable giving gratitude for the lessons that they have brought to you or what they have taught you about your own strengths.
When we are able to be grateful for everything and everyone, we are able to manifest more good in our lives and more good includes people who resonate with us harmoniously, be they intimate partners, friends or co-workers.
Please Note: Showing gratitude for people who may have wronged or hurt you does not equate to condoning their actions. Only you get to decide who to forgive and when and if you are ready to do that. Appreciation may be liberating, taking hurt and pain and turning those negatives into positive life lessons.
Excercise:
Take a piece of paper and a pencil. Draw a dot in the centre of the page. That dot represents you.
Next, draw a small circle around you. Around that circle, write the names of all those who are very close to you, family, friends, pets. Those with whom you share a tight, loving bond. Notice the loving feelings that naturally arise within you for those people.
Draw a slightly larger circle around those names and next write around it the names of family, friends, neighbours, people you feel close ties with, who are outside of your immediate circle. Is there a difference in the intensity of your feeling from the first group of names?
Continuing with another concentric circle, slightly larger again, write around it those people who you may have less frequent contact with in your day to day life. They can be people who you bump into occasionally or have looser ties to.
Keep working outwards in ever increasing circles until you have included individuals that you interact with but don’t know by name (postman, milkman, shop assistant etc), all the way out to strangers.
You probably noticed how intense your feelings were when you drew the first circle or two, and how those feelings of love and friendship lessened as the circles grew.
Sit quietly and going a circle at a time, send love and gratitude to all of the people you have listed. Working your way outwards from the central dot (you!) try to find gratitude even for the strangers that you may pass in the street (and don’t forget to start with sending living kindness and thanks to yourself!)
Today’s Prompt:
Who in my life has taught me the most valuable lessons?
I hope that you are able to feel the true benefit of today’s exercise and that it leads you to a deeper understanding of yourself and others in your life.
Come back tomorrow for the last day in our 7 Day Gratitude Challenge!
Until then, have a blessed day.
xoxo
#gratitude#gratitudechallenge
Inula Austin Soul Growth 