Gratitude for Happiness

Want to be happier? Companies pay millions of dollars advertising happiness in a bottle or as an achievement to be worked at. If you were just thin enough, young enough, stylish enough. What if you were already enough- just as you are?

It’s so tempting to look for happiness outside of ourselves because that’s what those millions of dollars in advertising has got us believing. Somehow we all think happiness can be bought or that happiness comes from looking a certain way. The truth is, happiness, the real kind- not the Instagram kind, is already there waiting. Years of doubt put there by other sad and unhappy people have buried the jewel of joy in the muck of inadequacy. The job, the finding is the work of uncovering, unlearning, returning.

I admit, I am a person who tends to veer towards the negative. I have to WORK to be happy and as a human being in a world that sometimes seems beyond cruel, I don’t always feel happiness. As I get older and yoga helps me to clear away the clutter and programing, more and more things become clear. One, is the secret to happiness. Yah, the real deal secret to uncovering happiness. What could this billion dollar an swear be? you’re not going to like it…Gratitude.

That’s it, just gratitude.

That’s it, Tati? Just fucking gratitude? Yup, just fucking gratitude. The concept is easy enough to grasp, but just like all big, impactful ideas, this one is harder than it seems. To be grateful is difficult in a world that feels like it’s falling apart. Lately, so much injustice, so much cruelty, so much discord has me sad. Like, really, really sad, y’all. Its hard work to feel grateful, for me, without feeling guilty. But guilt is a roadblock to happiness. Just like any other muscle, you have to work towards gratitude, consistently.

Im not going to lie to you and say that I feel grateful every second of every day. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Some days I feel sad. Some days I feel angry. Some days I feel jealous. Some days I feel all those things at once while also feeling grateful. It’s complicated and that’s ok. Your journey is like your fingerprint, no one has it but you, embrace that.

So, in an effort to make a more happy world in hopes that a world filled with happier people will lead to a world filled with more love and compassion I’m sharing some practices that have helped me.

Set a timer every day to remind you to say what you are grateful for that day. My husband and I have ours set for 9 and we share with each other. Some days it’s profound and some days it’s “cheese” because, again, some days are harder than others.

Take time to look at something you love. Be it a pet, a person, an object, whatever. I take five minutes to admire my daughter. I look at her face, her nose, her eyes. I look at her little heart and soul, her fingers and toes. Doing this fills me with so much gratitude I feel like I could power the world.

Write down your gratitude list, refer to it often.

Have grace with yourself and be grateful for the learning opportunities you will encounter on the journey.

Remember that life and emotions are cyclical. Even though happiness is a light that is inside of you, it is normal and even healthy to also feel sadness, anger, jealousy even. Its human of us to feel many things with no emotion being better than the other. All emotions serve us in some capacity. The point here isn’t to only ever want to feel happiness but to savor the happy moments and learn from the other moments.

I have found that, in being more grateful, I am more happy. I would love to hear what you are grateful for today because as I find my happiness I am so much more appreciative of the happiness of others.

Namaste, friend