How I Snipped My Way To Abundance One Price Tag At A Time
"The more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased. “ – Oprah Winfrey
Of all the multiple Life practices (and there are Oh so Many ) I have imbibed over my tenure as a self-proclaimed personal-development junkie, Gratitude has got to be my ABSOLUTE FAV! It also happens to be (not surprisingly) what I do most naturally. With the Law of Attraction buzz that was created thanks to numerous self help gurus over 15 years ago, it was no Secret (pun intended! ) to the vast majority of the general population that being thankful was a big deal! As a beginner with this practice, I started by keeping it simple. Speifically, by practicing gratitude every time I snipped a price tag. It felt good and honest to me. Growing up in a middle class military household, I grew up comfortably but didn’t ever have to fear carpal tunnel snipping of price tags aka…it was a much cherished rarity! So, whenever I had a brand new dress or any piece of clothing or accessory, I thanked the Universe for the abundance it bestowed upon me. If the price tag in question was a gift, I took the opportunity to feel the gratitude for the person who gave me the gift. I started to enjoy these quick moments of mindfulness in my day so I decided I would become more creative! I felt gratitude for the abundance of food in my life every time I opened up a bag of pasta or took the sticker off a fruit from the supermarket. It bought a zing ( yeah Mary Kondo!!) into my very being like a private mini mind retreat of sorts. So I just continued it! Over time, I noticed that I seemed to be doing the thanking quite a few times a day and also, I seemed to be snipping nicer stuff! Within a matter of 8 to 12 weeks, I noticed a significant shift in my general sense of well being and mood.
Energy Flows where attention goes. So, my keeping my attention of gratitude and abundance, I kept attracting more of the same.
Here’s are some key things to accelerate your gratitude-o-meter!
1. Always FEEL the gratitude rather than just say or write it. Einstein proved that the whole world is nothing but energy. Therefore, we are energy too and like all energy, we vibrate at a certain frequency. The Feeling of the emotion of gratitude tends to lift our vibrations (vibes) into a higher level. Therefore we tend to attract better things/ emotions/ circumstances that are essentially in harmony with our higher vibes. I found that placing a hand over my heart (or just focusing on my heart if in public or at work) makes it feel a lot more significant!
2. Nothing is too small for Gratitude. Whenever I ask a potential client if they can name 20 things that they are most grateful for in that moment, a surprising majority of them get stuck after the first 8 or 10. One such client, I’ll call Sam, actually got red in the face and quite stumped about what to say after 4 things to be grateful for. Here’s the deal, EVERYTHING we touch, smell, taste, feel and hear we can be grateful for. At this very moment, I am typing this on my laptop which was lovingly bought by my husband, seated on a beautiful Restoration Hardware Chair that I enjoy everyday, while sipping on refreshing sparkling water and facing a window overlooking a beautiful lemon tree full of beautiful Meyer lemons ….(While my husband helps clean my kitchen)…..you get the drift right?! So if you happen to be reading this and saying, Well glad to you have your life ducks in a row girlfriend, but I’ve got a lot of s!#t to deal with at the moment so forgive me for not giving two f*&k$ about gratitude, then therein lies the problem. <Refer to Einstein’s theory about all matter being energy with a vibration>
3. Starting and End the day with Gratitude. This is just so damn practical as the beginning of the day really sets the tone for the rest of it. I once heard this guy say how he wakes up with the thought of giving thanks for a good night’s rest and having rested a soft cloud like pillow. I was hooked! I retired my not so fluffy way too worn out pillows and swapped them for new ones, bought a faux fur rug for the bedside and high thread count white bed linen (like the ones you would sleep on in a nice hotel) to help with the feeling of everyday luxury. To this day, my very first step down from the bed onto that fluffy warm fuzzy rug brings true zing into my day! Walking to the bath suite is also an exercise in giving thanks for every step and the feel of the beautiful beach wood floors. A colleague of mine visualizes his entire day and gives thanks for each successful meeting and meal and work out. Its brilliant!
4. Be grateful for what’s not right in your life. This could be a current dilemma that you are facing or simply analysis paralysis over a decision that you need to get made or a relationship that could be better. If I were to ask you of a time in your life when you were totally bummed about something but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I’m willing to bet you may have atleast one of few to name. Think of what that experience did to shape the person that you are today. A teacher of mine spent a decade in chronic pain only to realize that the pain was her body’s way to tell her that she was not living the life she were meant to live. It helped her get fully in tune with her body with which she’d been disconnected for over two decades!
5. Keep a Gratitude Journal. My first entry into my journal was September of 2008. I started a gratitude journal for things that I have and also for that which was yet to manifest in my life. Yep…for the things that weren’t yet in my life too. This shifted my life to a whole new level – from slowly to swiftly! I am in joy and awe every single time I decide to peruse my entries from the past. Ok fine, I’ll admit I am most often in tears of gratitude.
Gratitude started out to be something that I did and today it is quite simply who I am. I am truly grateful for being able to share this with you.