Gratitude. How do we get it, experience it, and feel it?
It's one of those things that you remember that you forgot to do. It sometimes feels like one of those reflective traits that is so elusive in the moment, but then somehow you get reminded hours, days or months later. You may have been on a trip, in a park, at work or resting under a tree, and just forgot to truly smell the roses and be grateful for the moment. It's the mind that wanders away from the present and into the past or future. And once you are in the past or future, there is no gratitude to access for what you are experiencing in the moment because you are busy daydreaming about other things.
How do we be more grateful in the moment then? How can we improve upon the gratitude for the day, the people we interact with, or the events that are going on? Moment by moment? I have still not found a faster or more readily available way to access gratitude and presence in my day other than asking the question, "if this is the last time I am with this person, who would I be and how would I act?" or "if this is my last time experiencing this (ie. shower, car ride, walk etc.) let me fully experience it for all it has to offer." It is questions or statements like this that allow me to access a refined level of presence and therefore gratitude for what I am experiencing whether it be will people or just the "ongoings" of the day. I remember one of my mentors saying that the quality of your life is dependent on the quality of questions you ask yourself. We become mindless, presentless, gratitudeless (made up words), when not focused on the moment, so we require a tool or a question that pulls us out from where are minds are wandering, and yank us quickly into the present moment. These questions or statements are tools to help us do just that.
if this is the last time...
So grateful to have my fingers tapping on the keyboard at this moment,
Dr. Steve
