Latest / RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way / Ep. 36 – Gratitude

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Ep. 36 – Gratitude · RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is produced by my friends at Walk West.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow your brand and generate leads through podcast or video production, head over to walkwest.com.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's start the show.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Rise Up.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Live Joy Your Way with Comedy Wood.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to step into your power.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: I am so excited to have you here today.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I am Comedy Wood, and for those of you who are still getting to know me, I am a mom of five myself, but in my professional world, I am a certified life coach that works with individuals on healing that relationship with oneself, ending the outsourcing of self-worth in order to have success in business, in order to have healthier relationships, and ultimately find joy and happiness in your life, and the endless box checking and really being engaged in the life that you're living.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Today's topic is surrounding the concept of gratitude.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: As a coach, we talk and many coaches talk about keeping a gratitude journal or a gratitude list because when we are grateful, we inadvertently, even if we don't intend to, we end up raising our vibrational level.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: It brings in a positive outlook or just elements of positivity.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And as we know, positivity breeds positivity.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I really wanted to talk about gratitude in a deeper way today, just because you know it's that time of year we're entering the holiday season, but also just in terms of um really trying to lift up and move us towards this concept of happiness and joy, I do believe that a lot of it, a huge amount of or what the bedrock is to build that really does lie with uh being grateful, showing gratitude, feeling that deep appreciation in ourselves so that we really can build upon it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: So just to start off with, you know, what really is even gratitude?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, gratitude, honestly, first and foremost, is it's actually a way of living.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's a state of being in which you're open to yourself to receive good things, whether you believe in God, a higher power, or just the, you know, whatever you prefer to call it, the universe, it's just being grateful and having gratitude ends up allowing you to be open and in an in a place where you can receive.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as well as it with that posture of openness, not only are you able to receive, but you also have a willingness to give.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it puts you into that into that place.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if we want to get technical, Harvard Medical School divide defines gratitude as a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives, and as a result, gratitude helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals, whether to other people, nature, or a higher power power.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So ultimately, when we focus and affirm that goodness, when we focus on and affirm goodness, it takes the focus off of things that we don't like about our lives and helps us recenter onto things that we can be appreciative for.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Gratefulness is truly like a magnifying glass that highlights the good things that are going on in our life, not just the big good things, even the small good things, but it highlights those good things and minimizes the things that we're not so happy about.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so it enables us to see the good and build upon the good.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: So on the flip side, when we don't have a gratitude practice or we don't have we don't take time on it on hopefully on a daily basis to see the good things that we can be grateful for, thankful for, uh, we end up becoming discontent and we end up becoming unhappy.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I've said this before, um, but I mean we've we hear this in business all the time, where one negative review or or to compensate for one negative review, you really need 12 positive reviews.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same concept even in our own lives.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: If we don't take that time to just find those nuggets that we can be grate grateful for or thankful for and build upon that positivity, and we just only focus on like even the one negative thing, it brings us down and takes us into that into that sad um place.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So one thing that I want to be clear about though, what gratitude is not.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So gratitude is not does not mean that you're always happy.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that um we constantly walk around only looking at you know the sunshiny stuff and and we're only sitting in this, it it essentially it's not meant to be toxic positivity.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is it's not meant to gloss over either pain or grief or other emotions that you might be feeling because we we're meant to feel the emotions that we have, they're meant to be an energy.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's not an antidote for those things because those things are trying to teach us things.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: But it is about um taking even stock where when we have that pain and grief, it's not about glossing over those things, but it's also about recognizing even in the midst of all of that pain and suffering, what are one or two, three, or one, two, three handful of things that I can be grateful for.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not taking away from the experiences that you're having, but it's also um almost becoming um just put being able to see the good things that are happening in your life at the same time, so you don't just sit in the negativity.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Gratitude is also not meant to be a competition, and what I mean by that is, you know, with social media right now, many of us do post on social media, and I'm not saying we shouldn't, but it's not meant to necessarily try to make it um a competition with others, like where we're trying to show off everything that we're grateful for um to to somehow have some type of competitive edge, right?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's not about um it's not about humble bragging, if you will, where uh we're going onto a social media platform, for instance, and we're being grateful for somebody, like for instance our mother, and they don't even happen happen to be on that so on that social media platform because sometimes that can it somewhat defeats the purpose of the purpose of actual being grateful, maybe it might serve you better to simply call your mom and actually converse with her and tell her how grateful you are that she's in your life or what have you.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's also not meant to be divisive.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um when you really think about it, when we are practicing appreciativeness, thankfulness, gratefulness, it is trying to bring people together or bring ourselves closer to those in our lives.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's not meant to try to divide us away from people, and that kind of goes on the piggyback of this concept of competition.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And also, gratitude is not necessarily only meant for the times where we feel really blessed by big things.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Having a gratitude practice is actually even being grateful for those little things in our life, the little tiny things, like even you know, being grateful for a warm cup of tea when you're feeling cold, or you know, just being able to see the sunshine, it's not necessarily these great big accomplishments and only being grateful at those times.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And there is science behind an actual practice of gratitude.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it has been shown that having a consistent practice of gratitude does enhance your well-being.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, grateful people tend to be more agreeable, they tend to be more open, and they tend to be um less stressed out because when you think about it, if we are in the state of um overwhelm, in that state of flight or fight or freeze, uh, fight, flight or freeze, we end up uh being unincapable of actually really thinking through whatever adverse situation we're facing.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: If we are in this, if we if we practice a consistent gratitude uh practice, it tends to bring that stress level down because when we're looking at the things that we're grateful for, it alleviates that feeling of being stuck in that in that state of overwhelm.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it can act as a way to get us out of that constant stress cycle that we might be in.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: And an actual gratitude practice also deepens our relationships because it is a strengthening tool for those interpersonal relationships.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: When people express their gratitude for each other, um it allows for a deeper connection, a deeper emotional connection.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: It allows for the process of forgiveness to happen, for instance.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: It allows for us to see each other in a deeper way.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, intimacy is not just physical intimacy, there's a there's an emotional intimacy that has to happen as well.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So when we have an active gratitude practice, it does help us deepen those relationships.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: It also helps us improve our optimism.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, when people are optimistic or when people are grateful and they're pre and they're uh celebrating the things that they can be thankful for in a consistent basis, it puts them in a more optimistic frame of mind.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And from that optimistic frame of mind, they're more apt to do things like take care of their health and their well-being.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so they might get up and exercise more routinely or watch what they're eating because they are just in that more their frame of mind is in a positive place rather than a negative place, which is why there's increased happiness when we also have this consistent practice of gratitude.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's actually a study that was conducted asking people to write and deliver a letter to someone for whom they were grateful, and after the task, their happiness levels and life satisfaction actually dramatically increased and had lasted even weeks later.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: So when we are in the pursuit of happiness and just satisfaction, gratitude does offer this long-lasting effect.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it and it adds to that positive feedback loop.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned this before, but it's it does lead to better physical and mental health because again, when you're in this more optimistic mindset, you're more apt to do the things to help take care of yourself from a physical standpoint, but also from an emotional standpoint.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you're able to, when you are in an active gratitude practice, your emotional, mental health is also being addressed, and therefore you're able to align with uh both your your physical health and your mental health.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so ultimately a gratitude practice helps overall, overall well-being in life on a personal level.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then even when you bring it into your business or into your company culture, it adds to a positive company culture, it adds to building better teams because when we share our when we come from that place of gratitude and appreciativeness and that positivity, it's gonna blend and bleed into even how people that we're working with are seeing life and are able to connect with each other on a deeper level.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, people often say, well, okay, Comedy, great, that's wonderful, but how do I do this?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's there are different things that we can do to really put a gratitude practice into place.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of us coaches talk about a gratitude journal, uh, but it's really just taking time each day and reflecting on things that you are grateful for.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I take it one step further and not just looking at materialistic things, but it's, you know, things that have happened in my personal life that I'm grateful for, things that have happened in my work life that I'm grateful for, and then things that I'm grateful for about myself as a person.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, with my work and really healing that relationship with self, it's it's really having that whole feeling and self-sourcing your own self-worth.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's really recognizing the things that you can appreciate about yourself as well.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do encourage the, I call it the list of threes, you know, grateful for personal stuff, grateful for workplace stuff, and grateful for your own, um, your own being, how you're showing up in in your life.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, another way to build this gratitude practice is to uh recite affirmations, you know, come up with your own personal affirmations of what you're grateful for.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So for instance, if somebody were coming up with their own um affirmation, it might say things they might put something into play, such as, uh, I'm so grateful for all the blessings I've received this week.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm grateful for my, and then maybe it's my new job.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm grateful for my friendships, I'm grateful for my children, I'm grateful for the delicious meal I ate last night, I'm grateful for the good night's sleep I got, I'm grateful for this wonderful cup of coffee I'm drinking.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it's creating your own set of personal affirmations.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're personal affirmations, your being will actually believe in them.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's really important.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, affirmations are great, but if they're personal affirmations that you've created from the inside out, it'll become part of who you are.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And as you're reciting them, you'll actually believe in them.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Another way to get into a gratitude practice is to consistently say thank you.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's not even saying thank you to a person.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, for instance, if you were walking down the street and you found a quarter and you picked it up, you'd say, Oh, thank you.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Or somebody holds a door, thank you.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's really getting into a practice, either, you know, not just on your own and not just with somebody, but just learning to consistently say thank you throughout your day.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, it's it's bringing into that uh awareness, that reticular activating system in your mind, where it's becoming part of who you are to just show that appreciativeness and put yourself in that frame of mind of being appreciative of the things that are coming your way.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's about finding ways to be grateful even in challenging moments.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: So even in the most challenging situations, in those adverse moments, it's not, again, we're not glossing over that it's a challenging situation, but it's looking for those nuggets, those nuggets of things that you can be grateful for, those pieces of maybe something that you've just learned, or you know, even in COVID, for instance, it's being grateful for this time with family.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's finding those little nuggets, even in those difficult situations where you can uh be grateful.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it's asking yourself questions such as like, is there a valuable lesson I can learn in this situation?
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything good that can come out of this challenge?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any way that this difficulty is actually helping me grow as a person?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Or in five years, how will I look back at this situation?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So even in those difficult situations, it's finding something to be grateful for and thankful for.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: I, of course, hope this was helpful in terms of just maybe possibly building a gratitude practice into your daily life.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you ever would like to chat with me about what's coming up in your life or just to talk through different challenges that you might be facing in terms of your own self-growth, I am happy to do that.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Feel free to reach out to me.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can book a time to speak with me at chatwithcomedy.com.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you'd like information such as what we were talking about here or other different articles that I have written, my blog is easily accessible at my website, comedywood.com.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, I'm Comedy Wood.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Rise Up.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Always remember your uniqueness and the gift that you bring to this world.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Life happens for you, not to you.