Gratitude

You are focused on what you don’t have and what is going wrong. I know there is a difference between where you are and where you think you need to be. The difference may seem insurmountable. The consequences may be terrible. The whole situation may be overwhelming. You feel like you are losing the fight. Let’s not think about that right now. No, I’m not asking you to wish away the reality of your situation. I’m not asking you to launch into denial about how serious your problem really is. Even right where you are, here are 4 ways to solve that problem like you are your own personal gladiator.

1. Stop Your Overwhelm - Even in the middle of your circumstances, there is a reason to be thankful. Before you make a decision, count your blessings. While you are in overwhelm, remind yourself of the things that bring you joy. Don’t worry about being in overwhelm, just focus on the reasons you have for thankfulness. I’m not being theoretical. What are they? Think about them. Speak them. List them. Spend some time and energy remembering the things that we all naturally forget. What is going right? What is one great thing that has happened even while these terrible problems were brewing? Name another great thing. And another. And another. Oooh, you just thought of another one before I could ask. Keep going. Thankfulness interrupts overwhelm.

If you don’t see anything great at first, that’s okay. It’s okay as long as you don’t give up. Sit with it until you think of something. It might be small. It might seem inconsequential. It might be unrelated. It might be shallow or vein or silly. It still matters. Count it. Make your list.

2. Your Problems into Perspective - Training yourself to see the good helps to put your problems into perspective. You have seen this happen when a reporter interviews someone immediately after a tragedy, a natural disaster, some unexpected devastation. As they stand with the ruins of this person’s life framed in the background, the reporter asks something like “how do you feel”, or “what are you thinking right now?”

Tell me that it doesn’t move you to hear the person share the reasons they have to be thankful even as the ashes smoke around their feet. They say, we escaped with our lives; or this was something we should not have survived and we are blessed. Even though we’ve lost everything we have, I have my life and I’m thankful for that. Sometimes you hear wonderful stories of thanks for heroism or assistance from a total stranger that came to their aid. Often you hear, we don’t know what comes next but we are faithfully taking one day at a time. Even thought your issue may feel like the end of the world, put your problems back into perspective.

3. Invite Your Most Powerful Purposeful Self to Show Up - Don’t you want your best Self doing the heavy lifting for you in this moment? That Self is your own personal “gladiator in a suit” on speed dial. The fastest way to call up your inner gladiator is with gratitude. Gratitude is one of the fastest ways to shift you into who you are when you are at your best. Gratitude invites that most powerful purposeful Self to show up and make decisions on your behalf.

Why is gratitude such an incredibly powerful feeling? Gratitude puts you in the right frame of mind to see the next step to take. If you can come from a place of gratitude, you are not coming from a space of fear and anger. Gratitude changes the type of options you see and the options you think about. Your gratitude summons your courage and strength to stick with it another day. Gratitude generates the clarity you needed to step away from something or someone that is no longer serving you. Gratitude gives you peace to feel calm and certain of your next move even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else.

4. Ask yourself, “What Do I Have?” - Now that you have stopped your overwhelm; shifted your perspective; and invited your most powerful purposeful self to show up, let’s talk about that issue again. No. No, we are not going back to that hyperventilation and panic. We are problem solving. I didn’t ask you what you don’t have. Focus on what you have.

Choose to feel grateful even as you acknowledge that you may not have what you want. See where you do have enough. Choose to appreciate the many ways that you have enough. Focus on the abundance and the goodness that exists even in this situation. Appreciate what you already have and all you are learning. Appreciate your determination to handle this the right way. Recognize where things are being taken care of. Appreciate they way you are solving your problems and see how your gratitude gives you the energy to walk away from that battle with a big win.

One Step At A Time....

Does it feel as if you are well into 2013 already (instead of just a month), trying to keep up with ...everything?! The challenges we face offer a wide range of solutions, some that energize us and others that drain us. Serious situations may cause us to agonize over the resolutions - especially if we dwell on the "what ifs" too long.

But once that tough decision is made, don't you find that your focus is better, your energy renewed and the path towards moving ahead towards your goals much clearer? If you are in the middle of this kind of challenge, just let me offer this: keep on putting one foot in front of the other-even if those steps are small, they are still moving forward and you can give yourself some valuable energy-rebuilding time.