Mathilde W.
In a situation where negativity takes hold and finding something to feel grateful for is difficult to retrieve, it’s likely the body and brain is in a fight or flight response. In that place, I would breathe slowly and deeply, inhaling for four counts, and exhaling for six counts, and focusing on my body being connected to the earth. There is also a meditation track by the musician Raveena, called “Your Breath Becomes a Flower” that’s about 15 minutes long. I would listen to it, and afterward try again to search for something to feel grateful about. An acquaintance once shared the idea that, if you think about it, the universe has given each of us infinitely more than we have given it, the water we drink, the food we eat, the technology we benefit from, massive systems we benefit from like modern electricity, the internet, the invention of the wheel and thousands of people and resources across time had to all come together to give us modern transportation like cars and trains. Yes, we may be sitting in traffic and running late and upset, but we benefit from the work of thousands of people, discovering metals to inventing the combustion engine, to paving roadways, many people had to labor extensively for us to be upset about sitting in traffic, myself included on a hard day. I feel if I stop and think about how much I have given the universe, versus how much it has given me, I can find something to feel grateful for. I could feel grateful for every sip or water I have ever had, every ripe fruit I’ve ever enjoyed, every ray of sunlight that warmed me up on a cool day. Listen, life can be very, very hard, negativity is sticky and contagious, and can get us stuck in a loop. But if we stop, get quiet, and compassionately put effort into grounding ourselves, we can reassess from a more neutral place to start, and think about all the universe has given us, and continues to give us. It is a discipline, a practice to connect with gratitude and positivity, but like a muscle, the more we work at it, the stronger it gets.
