Embracing Change and Growth - An Excerpt From My Heart to Yours

I’m sitting in a life coach’s office in 2000. I never imagined my world would have hit such rock bottom. By choice I was in the beginning of what would be a grueling, 12-month process of a non-amicable divorce. I found myself a single mom of our six-year-old daughter. I was working hard to keep her my number one priority and also keeping my business afloat, family bills paid, selling our house and trying so hard to be a strong mother and keeping our little family safe. Truth was, I didn’t know if I was coming or going. I was lost in so many ways. 

Wrapping up our first hour-long discussion she said, “I want you to start thinking about what you are grateful for in your life.” 

Say what? Did I hear her correctly? “Did you say you want me to think about what I’m grateful for?” I asked. 

“Yes,” she replied. 

 “Start with even the smallest thing,” she offered. 

I reflected on my day and told her that I saw a beautiful sunrise, and love holding a hot mug of coffee on a cold morning and enjoying those first sips. 
Still reluctant, I continued. “I love to hear my daughter giggle and read these little love notes she brings to me,” I confessed. 

Surely this life coach would have incredibly wise advice for me. She will certainly help me turn my world around. 

I couldn’t think of much.

“That’s it, go on,” she encouraged. 

I felt better when I thought about these things and for a moment I forgot about my divorce, the overwhelming feeling of being stuck and the intense depression that I felt circling around me. Instead I felt the joy of being in the moment – like the way my heart felt warm when I thought about those little tiny notes my daughter delivered to me, handwritten and folded into special gifts for me. 

Gratitude Paves the Way for Allowing 

Practicing the art of gratitude will gave me a powerful turning point to my life. When we tap into gratitude we create a positive mindset and come from a place of abundance, rather from a place of what’s wrong and lacking in our lives. If you’ve never done this before, I admit it may feel odd at first. What you’ll notice, however, is the more you practice the more you are allowing this rhythm to begin to flow in your life. You’ll be able to recognize the good, the "light" - even if it is in the smallest kind gestures by others or a glimpse of beauty in nature. And when you begin to approach your life in gratitude, you’ll find blessings showing up at your door unexpectedly. 

Gratitude and faith helped me through the most difficult time of my life. Gratitude was like tiny baby steps, helping me see a glimmer of hope and light in my life. Faith was my rock, as I believe we are guided to our do our greatest good through trials and tribulations. Abundance began to flow freely for me in many ways. I now have empathy for others who go through similar painful situations. I can relate. I’ve been there and made it through. So can you. 

So if you’ve been through a time like this, I tip my hat to you. If you’re in the midst of something similar, know that it is a time of personal growth. It will become clearer in time. I encourage you to find faith – whatever that may be for you – and begin to take these baby steps of gratitude. Those steps will help ground you, keep you living in the moment (away from the what if’s, as well as past and future worries), and ultimately begin to create the space for abundance in your life. 

Here are five tips to start your personal walk with gratitude: 

1. Begin – Make the commitment and tell yourself that you’re going to start. 
   
   

2. Get Quiet – Early morning or late evenings are the perfect time to slow down, reflect and create awareness. 
   
   

3. Start Small – What’ s the one thing you’re grateful for today? Keep it simple. Your list will grow from here. Notice how you feel when you think about these things that make you grateful. See how long you can keep that feeling – 15 seconds, a minute, an hour, longer? 
   
   

4. Journal – This is a powerful tool. I found it challenging to get started, but now I journal 4-5 times a week. Most days I can now stay in a state of gratitude for hours. When I fall out of alignment, I simply readjust my thinking.  
   
   

5. Notice & Take Note – When you tap into gratitude it allows for expansion and creating space for newness in your life. Journal regularly and then to read back over weeks and months to see your progression. 
   
   

Stepping into gratitude can change your life in three ways. First, it will bring you into the present moment – into the Now – and ground you. Second, it will set the stage for expansion in your life as you lay the groundwork for allowing. Lastly, it will bring gifts of abundance and life purpose in ways that you never imagined. Just begin with that one tiny step.

Question: Have you gone through a time in your life where just putting one step in front of the other was all you could handle? If so, what did you find helpful that you can share with others? Are any of you going through these life changes right now? 

Post your comments and I'll be sure to respond.
~Marla

Written by Marla Bosworth. Reprinted from The Saponifier Magazine with permission.