There I was standing at the beginning of the trail. It wound its way into a thick forest where it quickly became lost in the shadows. “This is going to be fun!” I thought as I started down the path. I was doing a Gratitude Walk because I had been focusing a little too much on negativity that past week and these walks always help me raise my spirits and shed negative thoughts.
Walking along the wooded path, I began focusing on all the things I was grateful for and really letting myself feel that sense of gratitude. My friends, my family, my car, my home, my bed, the beauty of the forest…the more I felt grateful, the more things I felt grateful for. Soon, I was practically glowing with gratitude and joy.
I finished my walk and returned home an hour later. When I checked my email, I had received requests from 2 new clients to work with me and both were willing to pay the premium price for my services, $150. It always amazes me how quickly good things flow into my life when I am in a state of genuine gratitude.
So often we get caught up in what we don’t have that we completely overlook what we do have. We’re so focused on wanting that new car that we ignore the transportation we currently have, even if it isn’t the newest and prettiest model and even if it doesn’t run too well. We spend so much time thinking about that new raise that we become dissatisfied with our current salary. Now, wanting bigger, better and newer things isn’t bad; in fact, it’s necessary for living the most fulfilling life possible but it is equally important to take time to appreciate what is already in our lives.
Gratitude and appreciation open the doors for even more wonderful things to appear. The mechanism behind this is the Law of Attraction, which states that like vibration attracts like vibration. The feeling or vibration of gratitude tells the Law that you would like more reasons to feel grateful so it matches that by sending you more opportunities to feel that way.
The next time you find yourself obsessing over some future possibility, take the time to stop and smell the roses, as it were. Look around at what you already have and be grateful for the abundance that already exists in your life.
