You're reading Gratitude is the Most Powerful Way to Live Your Best Life: My Personal Journey, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
The Yellow Brick Road is Paved with Gratitude
Do you want a life you're proud of? One where your dreams come true?
Of course you do! Even I want that for you.
It isn't easy. There's no quick fix. You have to invest time, thought, and intention in every day. The good news? The path to the life you are craving only takes ten minutes a day, is fun, and simple.
The answer is a gratitude practice.
Yes, it really is that plain. By habitually showing appreciation for the people and experiences in your life, you can manifest the life you're here to live.
Building the Yellow Brick Road
You might be surprised to know there is an abundance of scientific evidence proving the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of gratitude. In fact, Berkley has an entire institute that regularly shares these benefits.
Here are some fun facts about the effects of practicing gratitude:
- Healthy Heart, Lower Blood Pressure (it simply feels good)
- Better Quality of Sleep (we can all use more of this)
- Feelings of Greater Generosity (everyone wins here)
- Stronger Immune System (so you can care for all your sick friends and family)
- The Experience of More Joy and Pleasure (who wouldn't love this?)
- Stronger Personal Relationships (adding to the joy and quality of your life)
Seem too good to be true? I don't blame you. If I wasn't living and breathing it, I'd have the same skepticism.
Over the past fifteen years, my gratitude practice has evolved from a simple list of things I'm grateful for to an intentional daily journaling and reflection practice. The first three years were hit or miss - I stopped and started for several years.
Slowly, the days I didn't journal felt off. Before I knew it, I was journaling, reflecting, and meditating through gratitude on a regular, consistent basis without resistance. I even worked through the "Catholic guilt" after recognizing participation, not perfection, was what mattered.
During that time, I learned how to extend grace to myself. A lifetime of only extending courtesy to others, never myself, was turned on its head by building an attitude of gratitude through practice.
The Wizard Behind the Curtain
Ten years in, my dreams were manifesting at a head-spinning pace. One day, I sat and reviewed five years of journals. I was able to locate where my gratitude practice aligned to the goals I had for my future. Tears fell as I realized the dreams I’d written down in the gratitude section of my journals matched the entries on the dream side a year prior.
I began to research gratitude and found evidence of its power. I knew I had to share this with everyone. If more people lived their lives through a gratitude practice, the better off the world would be.
I started to wonder:
Could we all find our purpose in this life through a gratitude practice?
Would the practice work the same for everyone?
What if a group of us got together and were in a grateful meditation together?
What if you were to move your meditation practice from and internal activity to an external experience?
I put on my red ruby slippers and ran down the gratitude yellow brick road with abandon. The last five years of my practice have been dedicated to spreading the news. I’ve used it with my family, strangers, my coaching clients, and inside organizations. And now with the Trybal Gratitude Journal. The experience has been unbelievable.
You’re Only Three Heel Clicks Away
Now it’s your turn to pick up Toto, click those red ruby slippers three times, and repeat, “I am so grateful for…, I am so grateful for…, I am so grateful for…” Before you know it, you’ll be home, in a place designed for you!
You can find Alexsys Thompson and the Trybal Gratitude Journal at alexsysthompson.com.
Alexsys Thompson, MLC, BCC is the creator of the Trybal Gratitude Journal, a keynote speaker, executive coach, and member of the Forbes Coach Council. Her work is guided by her life’s mission to create safe spaces for souls to show up.
She specializes in helping leaders step into their greatness by enhancing their strengths, creating strategies to bridge their gaps, and empowering their followers to do the same. Her commitment to clean, concise, and kind candor allows her to easily cut through the noise and find the optimal solution. Because of this ability, she is often described “a breath of fresh air.”
Following fifteen years of experience helping people step into their brilliance, Alexsys designed the Trybal Gratitude Journal as a tool for people to build a gratitude practice. Through her own practice, education, and work as a leadership coach, she’s found that gratitude is the key to living a life by design. With this journal, anyone can begin to unlock doors and see the beauty in themselves and the world around them.
Her work combines years of experience and study in leadership, gratitude, and manifestation. Over the last two decades, she’s lead a variety of retreats, spoken at many conferences and events, as well as facilitated large and small group trainings and helped team navigate through conflict.
You've read Gratitude is the Most Powerful Way to Live Your Best Life: My Personal Journey, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.