The gratitude challenge

A while back I was feeling very low, I was demotivated and generally feeling inadequate. There were days when I felt an overwhelming sadness and dread of I don’t know what, it felt like my spirit had left me and I was just going about with no substance in me. It felt like nothing was going in my favor, especially taking note of the goals I have set over the years, it felt like I was moving backwards and not forward, I felt like a horrible friend, mother and daughter. You know when I am in this horrible zone, I sort of shut down and barely communicate with anyone – I cannot even bring myself to answer my phone calls and literally just want to switch off from the world around me.

My feeling of inadequacy mainly came about as a result of me comparing myself to other people, forgetting that we all have different journeys in life and that we are all different. The timing of events and milestones in our lives is unique to each one so you can’t go about coveting and envying other people’s successes, rather, it should be a joy to celebrate the successes of others. Comparing oneself to others is a joy stealer and leads to one feeling demotivated and not feeling good enough.

So, as this blanket of deep sadness engulfed me, I got so sick of it. I got so sick and tired of feeling this way and I was willing to do anything to stop it, I felt horrible and didn’t like me and was feeling sorry for those around me who were dealing with my withdrawn self. A thought then came to my mind that I should try gratitude, I have been reading a lot about mindfulness and its impact on our overall well-being – mind body and soul. I determined that for every negative thing I was feeling or experiencing I would find something to be grateful / thankful for. As I started out, the idea came to me that I should make it a twenty one day challenge and I promise I had no idea that there was something similar on the web but as you know there is lots of information if you search google and sure enough I found something very helpful – the Gratitude Challenge, a twenty one day program designed to help you take note of the brighter side of life. I also found some helpful tips in an article on Huffington Post.

Gratitude is an attitude of being thankful, the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness and also being able to see the positive aspects in every situation.Gratitude as proven by credible research has been found to reduce the negative effects of stress, improve sleep, and cultivate positive emotions.

So I challenge each and every one of you reading this to take on the gratitude challenge, record it in a journal, share it with your networks and challenge someone to be grateful too, eventually we will have a community of grateful people.

You may be wondering why 21 days, why not 30 days or 10 days….. well, apparently it is because this is the length of time it takes to establish a new habit, such that after the twenty one days it will be natural for you to be thankful and have an attitude of gratitude, as you practice and learn gratitude even on a very difficult day please do remember that there is always something to be thankful for… so go ahead and give thanks.

Blessings always,
Biba