Stepping into each day with intention to create the life you want.
Recently, I started welcoming each day with an acknowledgement of how I intend to enter the day and with what gift.
Today, I enter the day with the gift of gratitude.
I find that if I consciously enter the day with the intention I have for myself, it often turns into a gift for others, and I regularly see it reflected back to me.
“Be the change you want to see in the world” they say. Or how about we just try “being who we want to be…”
What a concept. But it works!
Every morning, before I get out of bed, I reflect on what is going on in my world at the moment and zero in on ONE intention that I would like to see realized, or pay forward, on that day.
It can be anything. Today it is gratitude. Tomorrow it could be grace. Yesterday might have been acceptance.
Sometimes my intention for the day is a personal challenge. On others, it comes naturally. Today, my word of the day came with ease.
gratitude.
This morning, I woke up in my inviting and remote cabin on the east coast of Canada on the island of Newfoundland. The sun shone brightly through my un-curtained bedroom windows, and I could see the water from my bed.
I know that later in the morning I am going to collect my daughters, meet a friend, and go on a beautiful hike along the ocean’s edge. I know that we are going to stain our cabin deck, then I will go for a little paddle in my new kayak and hopefully receive the latest Harry Potter book in my mailbox.
I know that I will see my parents and my brother, who I don’t ordinarily see, perhaps get to hang out with my sister and her family who have been away on a family holiday, and welcome the casual “in the momentness” of a summer day at the cabin.
And I am grateful.
It is fairly easy to be grateful on days like today. When the sun is shining. When you’re on holidays. And when you are surrounded by people who love you. Now I ask…
What would it take to receive – and give – the gift of gratitude on days when you aren’t naturally experiencing it?
The first step is to know what it feels and looks like when it does come easily so you can recognize it.
So I breathe it in. With intention. What does gratitude look like?
I observe my surroundings.
I am in the country.
Small trees surround me.
There is a small lake in front of me.
The sky is blue with numerous clouds floating by.
The sun is low in the sky as it is just gathering its strength for another day.
I listen to the sounds of this space – the fish jumping, the birds, the frogs, the odd seagull, and the pitter patter of my puppy dog’s feet as he wanders around and uses his nose to explore his surroundings.
I hear the noise of the highway too – of traffic carrying on their usual day. The sound carries easily as there are no buildings or structures to block it.
I focus on the sounds of nature. I breathe it in. With gratitude.
Now, what does gratitude feel like?
I observe how gratitude shows up in my body. My shoulders are relaxed, my thoughts are quiet, my breathing comes easily. I am still.
My heart feels full with the warmness that comes when I reflect on all that I have to be grateful for. And I remember it.
Because tomorrow, or next week or next month, it may not be so easy to be grateful in a moment. So I wrap myself in it now. Put down my laptop. And enter the rest of my day with the intention I started it with:
Gratitude for what is.
What are you grateful for today?
Or perhaps there is another intention you’d rather focus on. Perhaps it’s been a while since you have been able to experience the pure feeling of gratitude, or have been able to experience pure feelings in the moment.
In my coaching practice, I work with my clients to help them uncover what they want to see more of in their world. Perhaps it’s gratitude. Often it’s clarity. Almost always we zero in on what they value most in their lives so they can focus on bringing more of that into their daily living, so they can live the life they want, and be able to recognize it when it is present.
I would love to hear what you are grateful for. Write it in the comments or message me for a complimentary Balance Breakthrough Session, so we can uncover what you need more of – or less of – to experience gratitude in your day-to-day.
With gratitude,
