100+ reasons to be Grateful

100+ reasons to be grateful, your path to joy, wisdom and courage 
100+ Reasons to Be Grateful - Build Your Resilience and Find Love, Joy and Peace

When I start one-on-one coaching with a new student, I often complete an inventory of my student's strengths based on questionnaires and their life-story essays. Yep - the students have to complete a lot of home-work - we use the euphemism "Home-Fun" LoL! We find that gratitude is often a dominant strength for many of my students. These students leverage gratitude daily to feel love, joy and peace and build resilience.

I attended an amazing online meditation session this weekend run by my friend Subba. He is based in Singapore and has a lovely yoga resort in Bali.  At the start of the meditation session, Subba suggested that we write 100+ reasons to feel grateful.  He said the opposite way is very easy. Given the negative bias of the mind, it would be very easy for 100+ things that we can complain about. Subba suggested that we turn that around.

1. I have laundry to do . . . I am grateful that I have clothes to wear
2. My house is cluttered with junk . . . I am grateful to have a roof over my head
3. I have a bad boss . . .  I am grateful for a job that pays the bills

You get the drift.  Now, Subba and I are not suggesting we live in a la-la land but often we are so busy complaining about life and we miss the wonder, joy and wisdom that comes along with the state of gratitude. I decided to try his gratitude exercise and I got stuck after the first five minutes.  I persisted and bingo. I broke the hundred reasons into blocks of ten.  
1. Ten people I am grateful for - wow! I could easily write 20+ people I am grateful for - including my dear friend Subba whom I have known for 30+ years
2 Ten magical places I have visited - Jerusalem, Cape Town . . . the list is quite endless  
3. Ten books that have changed my life including Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
4. Ten Foods that I like the most - I didn't stop with 10 - LoL
5 Ten Songs/Music pieces that I enjoy again and again including the Happy Song
6. Ten body parts that I am grateful - eyes, ears, tongue . . . you know where I am going with this
7. Ten skills that I have and made my life better for myself and others - including meditation and public speaking
8. Ten movies that I watch again and again - including Shawshank Redemption
9. Ten Activities that bring me pleasure including hiking, dancing, swimming, 
10. Ten Pieces of Art that bring me joy - including photos of Space by the Hubble Telescope.
11. Ten coincidences or chance happenings that transformed my life - Ah! so many people just came into my life at the right time, teaching opportunities, jobs . . . the list is endless.
I have been doing this exercise for the past three days - just looking at the categories fills my heart with love and joy. I encourage you to try this just for a week. ​I am sure you have ten categories of your own. Try it and send me a note or add a comment below!

Want to know more about my friend Subba?  Check out his youtube channel and his website.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLsfHQp3xuM
https://www.beingmemindfulness.com/

If you want scientific information and more details on how you can cultivate gratitude in your life, check out this earlier blog article of mine
https://www.meditation-magic.com/blog/three-grateful-ways-to-access-joy-and-happiness