Changing Dread Into Gratitude!

As I was walking around the city before work this morning, I was thinking about how happy I was and how fortunate I was to be in such an amazing place. I fully appreciated all of  the diverse sights around me.  I marveled at the hazy sky, with pink light peeking through a slit, and I inhaled the smells wafting out of just-opening bakeries.  I also appreciated that I had the time, energy and motivation to even take a walk at all before work. Later, at lunch, I went to an incredible farmers market only minutes away from my work.  Upon reflecting on this outing, I was able to appreciate the fact that I have access to local, fresh, abundant produce and that I work in a city where I can find a farmers market any day of the week!  

So enough about me and my good fortune, right?  You’re thinking, Why do I care about this...right?!

Well, the reason I’m sharing all this with you is because I want you to find appreciation, contentment and joy with wherever you’re at in your own lives.  You might not live in a city you love and you might not have a job that stimulates you but how can you reassess your current circumstances to view them more positively?  Without changing anything, what can you appreciate already in your own life?  Where can you find joy and contentment?

I practice at a yoga studio that teaches a different theme each month.  This month, lessons are being taught on the Yoga Sutras.  My teacher began class the other night by talking about this very thing: joy and contentment.  She used the example of how, when she used to make her daughter’s turkey sandwich every night before school, she would dread it and label it as “one more thing to do.”  She then shifted her way of thinking, though, and began to view her daily motherly task in a different light.  Rather than dreading it, she actually started to look forward to making the sandwiches because she was doing it out of love for her daughter.

While you can’t necessarily change your current circumstances or your day-to-day tasks, you can certainly change how you view them.  You can begin to do the same things but with a mindset of greater appreciation, joy and contentment.  The capacity to do so already exists within you!

Please share your own experiences with this.  Are you prone to negativity or do you consciously try to stay optimistic and positive?  What tasks or life circumstances greet you daily that you can start to take on with greater zest and gratitude?  Will this come easily to you?  Are you already working at overcoming pessimism and negativity or did my post inspire you to change your current ways?  

I eagerly await your thoughts and comments :)

With love, light and happiness,