Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Aug/Sept 2019 Aspire Mag FINAL | Page 53
7. CREATE
COMMUNITIES OF
GRATITUDE
I am so passionate about the healing power of
gratitude, I have integrated gratitude practice
into many of the communities that I am a
part, including my faith community, boards
of directors, staff meetings, support groups
I run, workshops I facilitate, organizations I
volunteer with, and gatherings with family
and friends. Choose a community you can
bring the healing power of gratitude to and
notice the positive impact it has!
I hope you will try one of the gratitude
practices I have shared and begin feeling
the healing power of gratitude today. Don’t
forget yourself when it comes to gratitude.
Be sure to include what you are grateful
for about yourself. It is deeply self-
nurturing to practice acknowledging yourself
as a miracle and blessing.
What is one thing you are grateful for
about yourself today?
Remember as Marcus Aurelius wrote,
“Within is the wellspring of Good; and
it is always ready to bubble up, if you
just dig.” Gratitude connects you to the
wellspring of good in your life, so start digging
by recognizing the miracles all around you!
May you embrace the healing power of
gratitude as you nurture peace in the
world from the inside out!
Kelley
Sending you peace, love and gratitude,
Kelley Grimes, MSW - Kelley is a counselor,
speaker, internationally bestselling author,
Aspire Magazine expert columnist, and
self-nurturing expert. She is passionate
about empowering overwhelmed and
exhausted individuals to live with more
peace, joy and meaning through the practice of self-nurturing.
Kelley also provides professional and leadership
development to organizations dedicated
to making the world a better place. She is
married to an artist, has two empowered
daughters, and loves singing with a small women’s group. Learn
more at www.CultivatingPeaceandJoy.com and download your free
Self-Nurturing Mobile App
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shift into positive thinking with gratitude.
Identify something in the experience you
are grateful for and then add to it. Watch as
your bad mood transforms into peace and
joy. Remember what we focus on grows.
Also, when you notice the focus of a group
you are a part of is gossipy or negative, shift
it by honoring the challenge and then ask
what they are grateful for. This gives people
an opportunity to reframe the difficulty into a
lesson and transform their perspective of lack
into abundance through gratitude. If you are
not ready to engage others in this direct way,
create a ripple of change by sharing what you
are grateful about from the difficult experience.
As a gentle reminder, this is different than
“silver lining” someone else’s experience,
so be sure you focus on your own
gratitude rather than telling others what
they “should” be grateful about.