24 Hours of Gratitude

Let's start with the irony of this experiment. I found this image while mindlessly scrolling through Facebook,  which I have complained about plenty of times. (I try not to spend much time staring at my phone screen these days, but sometimes it just sucks me right in. Especially when I know I have something else to get done that I am not excited about.)

Anyway, I am so glad that I stumbled upon that little green square. I said out loud right then and there, "What an awesome concept. I'm doing this. Starting now."

Ahahahahaha!!!

Yeah, right. About 5 minutes later I grumbled when my iPhone wasn't doing what I wanted it to. I said "Does that noise mean that I'm complaining?!" I made a self-reffing call on that one. So, I started over. I think I made it about 10 more minutes before complaining about something or other that humanity does that irritates me. I laughed at myself and realized that this would prove to be much more of a challenge than I initially thought! Pure determination and full presence was what I needed.

Going a bit deeper, I realized that some of my unspoken thoughts were equally as negative as the ones that escaped my lips. How many times in a day do you let yourself be annoyed, irritated, judgemental or just plain bitchy? Yikes! If we all said everything that we were thinking out loud, we could all be labeled as sociopaths and avoid each other like the plague! Ahh. Well, thank goodness that most of us have built-in censors. 

So. I decided that if I DID notice a negative thought arise, as long as I caught it, corrected it to be more true, and moved on, it could count toward the 24 hours of positivity. 

I eventually made it through 24+ hours without being a whiner or negative thinker. The funny part about this whole thing is that I would consider myself a very positive person to begin with. However, when I really got present within my own thoughts, I became frighteningly aware of the reality of the human mind.  It likes to seek out negatives or injustices or unfair things or people that are "wrong" or weird, or little stuff that isn't up to our standards, or, or, or...

I was listening to Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth (literally, for like the 10th time) on the morning of my successful 24 hour stint...it may have been part of my success that day... He said, "the mind wants to want, more than it wants to have." It's so true. We need to be grateful for what is and what we have now and stop the thwarted wanting! Geez!

I will sometimes meet people who I refer to as "having an Eeore cloud over their heads". You know, the cute little donkey from Whinny the Pooh that has a pet rain cloud that follows him? Nothing is ever good or fair or fun for these folks. They always seem to find the negative in everything. This. is. so. exhausting. For everyone. It's simply unattractive to other humans. Like a natural repellant. These are the times when I wish I had the art of teleporting mastered. For now, I will try to listen fully. Ask yourself if what they (or you) are being negative about is really the issue. Usually there is something deeper happening that they (you) haven't resolved. 

Sometimes a poor choice they (or you) have made way back has manifested some ugly realities for them in the present. If you feel brave enough, ask them (or yourself) if they are willing to look at the issue at hand from a different perspective. How did they get here? Are they willing to change their thoughts or habits to create a more positive outcome? What is their intention by being so negative? Are they seeking attention, sympathy and commiseration? Don't give it. This will only confirm that being negative and whiny works in their favor.  Compassion and empathy is what is needed here. Listen. Acknowledge their feelings of anger, sadness or discomfort. Then, in a kind way, ask what they plan to do to turn things around for themselves. This might help to turn that cloud into rainbows and sunshine. Or at least a fluffier, happy cloud?

Anyway, to sum up this whole idea: try it yourself. Do a 24 hour gratitude challenge. Invite a friend or your spouse to do it too. (Then you can help keep each other on track.) Ooooh. See if your kids can do it, if they're old enough to understand self-reflection. It will be a great learning experience for all of us. 

Like me, you will be exponentially more aware of those pesky negative thoughts that arise. So we can trap them in a jar, examine the heck out of them, then release them back into the world as positive, loving thoughts. After all, everything is connected, so let's make this life better for everyone. 

I took this photo in NYC back in October. It was painted on a building in an alley. I knew I would use it eventually. 

I am so grateful that you just read this piece of my whirling thoughts.

Have a beauty-filled day. 

Ps. If you have 10 more minutes, watch and listen to this beautiful piece of art. It's worth every second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsgP8LkEopM