On Gratitude…In An Arizona Summer
“Gratitude turns what we already we have into more than enough.”
I heard the above quote many years ago, and it’s stuck since. At the time of writing this, I’ve committed to 21 days of gratitude by way of a daily guided meditation and mindful practice. And while it’s hot-hot-hot here in Phoenix, Arizona (enough to make a gal cranky), I’m finding that gratitude is transforming the most basic things — like navigating summer in the Sonoran Desert—into a kind of wonder. As I’ve consciously chosen to focus on the good and look at life differently, I’m amazed to discover what’s unfolding within and without me: patience, resilience, optimism, more ease in relationships. I’m noticing and grateful on the daily that I have a great car, an air conditioned home and office, a pool in my backyard, a working fridge & freezer, and places to gather inside with friends and community, or opportunities to head up north into the mountains beyond Phoenix. Choosing what I place my attention on, I see in full that Life is good and full of possibilities this summer.
In a wild, weary world constantly in flux and conflict, it’s easy to lose a sense of inner peace and grounding. I feel it. My clients do, too. Yet despite outer appearances and global unrest, we still have choice as to where we place—and hold—our attention. Reviewing basic psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy demonstrates this: that our feeling/emotional state comes from the thoughts we choose to think as well as the stories we choose to tell ourselves. We can just as easily choose to read headlines or look at the weekly forecast, then feel fearful or irritated, just as we can choose to turn our thoughts toward what’s going well, what we have control over in this moment, and what we’re grateful for today. Amazingly, the little things we take for granted become the building blocks of buoyancy, stability, and abundance. The glass really is half full, leaving room for more good to fill it to the brim. We actively cultivate a perspective of deeper peace and greater possibility.
I absolutely love and am enthralled by the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza, who takes brain scans of people who practice daily visualization and meditation centered on gratitude. His research provides evidence for the undeniable link between positive thinking and improved physical and emotional states. “We can think ourselves sick or we can think ourselves well and into abundance,” he shares. Check it out for yourself!
A simple opportunity for a pause:
Take a gentle inhale….a gentle exhale. Repeat this five times.
What you are noticing in your body right now?
What thoughts are you noticing right now? Is your mind rushing, critical, judgmental?
Take another gentle inhale…and exhale.
Recall what’s going well in your day or week. Can you name two things?
Who is someone you’re thankful for this week, and why?
What else can you intentionally appreciate in this moment?
Take a final inhale….now exhale. Come back to the place you’re in, noticing any shifts in mind, body, or within your heart.
My mentor, Dr. Wayne Dyer, is noted for popularizing the saying “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” If you’re entertaining doubt, negativity, criticism, or “not enoughness”, I invite you—right now!—to pause, breathe, and look around the room to see what’s going well and what you can intentionally appreciate, no matter how small. By redirecting your thoughts and attention, now notice how you’re feeling. Did something shift for you?
There’s an old saying: Where attention goes, your life grows.
I’ll wrap this up with simple quote from Willie, who’s right on the money:
“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” - Willie Nelson
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Love, C
Christine Slomski, MS, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in integrative counseling services focusing on: anxiety, trauma, grief & loss, chronic illness, infertility, reproductive loss, and women’s mental health.
Hi, I’m Christine Slomski, a Licensed Professional Counselor, EMDR Therapist, EFT Tapping Practitioner & Reproductive Grief & Trauma Specialist in Mesa, Arizona. I’m here to help you find your way back to Calm.
My work supports healing from within, using a Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit model. I’m professionally and personally qualified to walk with you through the hard places, believing you already have within you the components to heal, transform, and thrive.
With love,
Christine