Ego vs. Echo: Finding Gratitude in the Void

Begin your day with a morning inventory of blessings. Before engaging with screens or conversation, spend 30 seconds or longer in bed giving thanks. Reflect on the warmth and comfort of your bed, appreciating how it supports you, how your blanket keeps your warm and how your pillows snuggle your head. If you had dreams, slept through the night or you are excited about what is going to happen today, take these moments to appreciate as much as you can.

Throughout the day, cultivate gratitude for the mundane. Take time to appreciate what you often take for granted, such as the ability to make coffee or enjoy a warm shower.

Think about the people in your life, and focus on gratitude for someone special. Visualize their face and the reasons you appreciate them. Communicate your appreciation by sending a message or expressing it in person.

Expand your capacity for gratitude by considering past losses. If you previously valued something such as a relationship, an experience or an item, can you feel thankful for having experienced it, even though it has ended or passed?

Consider your schedule for the day and what you get to do. Give thanks for your abilities, the abilities giving you the opportunities that will shape your day and multiply in the future.

Explore how in shifting your focus to valuing essentials, relationships, and your own capabilities, you detach from desire and realize contentment.

Consider how you can integrate this practice into your daily experience by thinking of ways you can remind yourself.

Before sleeping, write down three specific experiences that you are grateful for, regardless of size. Actively direct your mind toward the positive aspects of your day.

Extend gratitude even to challenges. Consider a current difficulty and identify any potential benefits, such as personal growth, fortitude, or opportunities. Don't try to solve the challenge, let it rest with appreciation and a good nights sleep.

Stop, Pause and Appreciate!