Gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It allows us to see the learning behind life circumstances and when used consistently it can help bring forth more to be grateful for. Many of us on the spiritual journey use the energy of gratitude frequently. We are grateful for all that is around us and this whole crazy experience. But can we express gratitude for self?

Quite a few of us, especially empaths have negative egos. We tend to have this voice that is constantly tearing us down, putting us in our place and feeding the fears. This develops often in childhood where we were told that we shouldn’t feel a certain way, or that we feel too much, or that we must sacrifice to make someone else happy. If we had a religious background this negative ego can even have a stronger hold.

I remember too many times hearing that woman were what caused the fall of man and they were to be punished and restricted in this life. I can still hear the sermon during a mother’s day mass where the priest told everyone that woman were whores who had to be controlled lest they sin. Thankfully, they removed the priest from the parish because he certainly had no business speaking to elementary school children. I have watched males be ridiculed for showing emotion and feeling deeply. They were told to be big boys and to man up. All of these things create a very negative, criticizing inner voice. How loud this voice sound simply depends on the amount of trauma the inner child has experienced.

I was working with a client who was caught in a thought loop of “I’m not good enough” “I am not worthy” “I’m not talented enough”. We all have our own loop that we get caught in. This is the programming that keeps us in place, keeps us from becoming all we can be and it most certainly keeps us from being happy. I was working with the guides on how to advise her, what she needed to do to move beyond this loop and they suggested that she practice gratitude. They must have felt me inwardly rolling my eyes… because I was immediately told: “She needs to show gratitude towards herself”. Ok, so now we are getting somewhere.

What they explained is that being able to look at one’s self and feel gratitude is an important part of walking in one’s power.  That instead of being grateful for the external, it needs to be turned inward. They provided me with an image of a steady flowing good sized river and explained that this is representative of the energy that is created by such thought patterns. The longer the thoughts have existed the greater the flow of the river the harder it is to stop and redirect the flow. With this understanding, they recommended that those of us who have negative self-talk begin to make a concentrated daily effort to rewrite the programming. They gave me the image of a beaver creating a dam, one log at a time. Eventually, there are enough logs that water begins to slow and find a new direction and create a new path to flow in. These off shoots are our opportunities to create new streams of thought, ones that support us rather than tear us down.

So with this, I challenge each of you who feel guided to write at least 3 things daily that you are grateful for about yourself for the next 30 days. Do your best to not repeat the thoughts, instead really search within to find something new.

These are I and MY statements.  

• I am grateful that I was able to pull together a nice dinner
• I am grateful that I reacted differently than I had before
• I am grateful that MY ankle didn’t swell when I turned it.

Each statement is a log in the river, so be patient as some of us have very wide and deep rivers.

I will be posting this on the FB page and asking people to share their statements. I would love if you joined in. You don’t have to post what you are grateful for each day of the 30 days, just when you feel inspired. Plus when we see what someone else has posted, it helps us to see similar qualities within ourselves. I would also love any impressions that you receive, any AH-HA moments, any times that searching for things to be grateful for within, brought up areas needing healing.  Take this 30-day challenge to really begin reprogramming this area of your life into one that supports you. To join the FB page and participate click here

Below is a video on the subject that may describe it better than my writing. Thank you to all those that share these messages. <3 Take care of you, Jenny <3

Take care of you, Jenny <3