We wanna be grateful
because we read everywhere
that being grateful
is what it takes
to be happy.
We name 5 things
each day
we feel
we should be
grateful for.
The career, the money,
the house, the car,
there’s so much
we’ve got going
for us.
But as we go through
the motions
of filling a page
with items that should
make us feel abundant,
we can’t stop feeling
off,
unfulfilled,
disappointed and
sad.
But being grateful
doesn’t mean
halfheartedly
listing
all the things
we believe we should
be grateful for,
when all we really wanna do, is
vent, judge and
cry.
Being grateful
needs
us to go to that space of
not
ok.
Because feeling grateful
can never come
from a place of
pretend and make believe
that all is well,
when that is not
– deep down –
how we really feel,
right here,
right now.
Being grateful needs us to
courageously name
all the things we are
genuinely
not happy about.
Being grateful needs us to
courageously name
the something more
we are – deep down –
longing for.
Being grateful needs us to
be honest
with ourselves,
throwing open the window of possibility
in our closed off minds,
as we give up
the hard work of
pushing ourselves
to happy
from a place of pretend ok.
Because that honest place
of seeing the not ok,
gives us the breathing space
to truly see the beauty,
however counter-intuitive that might sound.
Gratitude is not about
making a long list of things
coming from a place of
pretend happy
chasing more happy.
Gratitude is about
letting
ourselves
freely speak
to ourselves
from a place of
unconditionally
unapologetically
embracing
whatever needs to be said.
Feeling grateful can never come from a place of pretending that all is well. @AnBourmanne
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What’s your experience with gratitude? Have you ever found yourself making a list with great things on there, yet not feeling that grateful?
An Bourmanne mentors smart hard-working women who are feeling overwhelmed + (secretly) stuck in a life that looks great from the outside, but feels draining + unfulfilling on the inside. She helps them to untangle themselves from those “what will they think of me” worries + that nagging (carefully hidden) sense of somehow not living up to their full potential. Grab the (free) toolbox to help you deal with stress and overwhelm right here. The 3 bite-size videos + worksheets will help you find your calm, confident focus back, so you can focus on what really matters to you (and create a life you truly love). Because life’s too short to be pretend happy, right? You can follow An on Twitter.
Image courtesy of Alexandre Perotto.
