Gentle Reflection
Most of us are continuously on the move. We are looking ahead to the next project, the next trip, or the next event. Today spend some time reflecting instead upon your past. This gentle reflection is not to look over moments you feel you should have made different decisions but to instead celebrate your decisions of courage!
Do you view yourself as courageous? When do we ever pencil in time to celebrate the good choices or thank ourselves for looking at a crossroad and deciding to walk the bolder path? This idea came from the David Whyte event I just attended because he spoke about thanking the ancestor of yourself. Below is an example of my time with this gratitude list.
The practice:
- Find a quiet moment in your day of at least 30 minutes
- Spend 5 minutes to reflect and write 5 positive decisions that were life changing
- Afterwards, take your list and spend 5 minutes or so reflecting on each great decision/situation then extend yourself some gratitude. Consider writing yourself a little note to make this activity a bit more impacting.
Example: In my snug, the house is quiet, the kids are gone for a few hours - my list
- Returning to college to get my degree
- Solo travel to Iceland
- Adopting
- Deciding to cling to Jesus
- *private decision
Here are two examples of notes I wrote to myself.
Dear me (I used my actual name), Even though you were already working in your career field, you took an opportunity given to you in the form of a pop-up ad and within a week started back as a college student. You finished your BA a few years later. Having a degree made a big difference in your life and really showed that you finish what you start. Thank you for being courageous, for putting in those long hours, and for making it happen.
Dear me (I used my actual name), Even though you were already working in your career field, you took an opportunity given to you in the form of a pop-up ad and within a week started back as a college student. You finished your BA a few years later. Having a degree made a big difference in your life and really showed that you finish what you start. Thank you for being courageous, for putting in those long hours, and for making it happen.
Dear me, You go after knocking things off your childhood dream list but that solo trip to Iceland took the cake! You were adventurous, resolute, and came back changed. You made great decisions to move towards self-care and to stop waiting for life to happen. Thank you for not backing out on that trip.
This is a different kind of gratitude list for sure because we don't usually take time to thank ourselves or acknowledge our greatest decisions. I hope you'll consider it though. I found it to be uplifting!