“mommy, I wake up!” -gratitude in times of crisis

My 3 year old niece, Miya wakes up everyday excited and announces “Mama, I wake up!” with absolute, unwavering joy.  It doesn’t matter if it’s 5am and the adults are all grumpy, you can’t help but smile and validate her joy with “yay!! good morning!"  

Miya’s ability to wake up happy is gratitude embodied, and why study after study encourages us to practice it to “improve well-being in two ways: directly, as a causal agent of well-being; and indirectly, as a means of buffering against negative states and emotions.”

The research findings are powerful because the spectrum of benefit is all inclusive: whether you struggle with mental health or you’re already objectively “happy,” a daily gratitude practice will make you happier.  

Given our current state of Coronavirus crisis, this is not to say that denying the negative emotions are the solution; but according to Robert Emmons, the world’s leading expert on gratitude:

...it is precisely under crisis conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life. In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize. In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with hard times… it is vital to make a distinction between feeling grateful and being grateful... being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Yes, this perspective is hard to achieve—but my research says it is worth the effort. (full article here)

In the Reflect-Plan-Do cycle of our workbooks, Gratitude & Habit Tracking are the only things to “do” everyday for a reason.  Making sure to take time to be grateful while looking at the kinds of habits you’re practicing can have a powerful affect of your life over time.  

We intentionally kept the space for gratitude very small so not to feel intimidating -- it doesn’t matter how much you write, just that you write it.  If you feel called to expand on your gratitude during this time of crisis, great! If you just want to write, I WAKE UP, that’s great too.

When you reflect on your gratitude practice at the end of each month, you will likely see themes arise.  People, places, aspects of your daily life that make you happy, calm, and align with your greatest self will be more obvious. You will start to make choices to align with what you’re grateful for, and magic will unfold.  

For now though, just take a moment to begin the practice if you haven’t already.  It doesn’t matter what it might or might not lead to.

In this moment of crisis, what if we all embodied our gratitude, even if we can’t quite feel it because of our fears?  What if we collectively said “I WAKE UP!” everyday, and started our days that way? It is a tall order, but one worth exploring, based on what we know in the research.

Note: A reminder that we are offering our workbooks at 50% off with coupon code SOCIALDISTANCE at checkout. It’s a great practice when things feel out of control and might be moving a bit slower in our day to day.