On gratitude, change, and fresh perspectives

Hello beautiful people!

Last week I gave a talk to 300 people on the power of presence, gratitude, and mindfulness within workplace environments and personal operations. I shared how setting intentions, finding things to be grateful for, and being self-aware can lead to more joy, fulfillment, and wholeness throughout our days.

For this week, I’d like to offer up a reminder that each of us has something to be grateful for in our lives, regardless of the noise we’re dealing with during our daily operations. It may be hard to find, and it may take a bit of searching, but I know it’s there, and I want you to know it too.

I deal with a decent amount of anxiety and fear in my days. Fear of not having; of not achieving; of uncertainty. Fear of not being enough and not doing enough weave in and out of every day. In these moments, I find that I get caught up in the minutia. I get caught in the doing; the tasks at hand and the things I must do. I get pulled away from the beauty of life and instead focus on the operations, which often leads to the negative. The devoid. The blank spaces where I think there should be something else.

Yet when I stop and look at my life from a greater perspective — at my relationships, career, lifestyle, and more — I recognize I have so much to be thankful for. I have an abundance; an abundance of people who support me, an abundance of challenging projects to work on, and an abundance of resources at my disposal. I have work I enjoy, friends I can call, a city I love, and so much more.

A friend of mine recently mentioned how he regularly tells himself, “Appreciate what you have, don’t wish for what you don’t.“ I think this is a beautiful concept to explore this week, as I know it has had profound impact on how I live each day, and my friend can say the same.

As you go about your days this week, try to make some time to ask yourself, “what do I have to be grateful for?”.

What beauty can you find amidst the chaos? Where can you express gratitude, dig deeper into the present moment, and be aware of your environment, without judgment of yourself or of others?

By answering these questions, you may find yourself appreciating what you don’t usually appreciate, and therefore seeing things in ways you don’t typically see them.

And that’s how change starts.

Have a fantastic week, my friends! As always, feel free to reach out and share your experiences.

Mike