I am so happy and grateful now that: I practice gratitude.
Lee Elhage - Founder of Eius
It was around the time the twins turned one, we had just moved house, which was quite a whirlwind, the twins were not sleeping and I was in a really tricky place. I wasn’t coping, I was snapping at the kids, I felt angry, frustrated, alone and so overwhelmed, even though from the outside everything probably looked lovely.
It was at this point that I knew I needed to do something. I was normally a happy, positive, motivated person, I needed to find that person again. Not only for me but for my family.
I reached out to Reem Borrows (from @dreem_com), I had known Reem for over 10 years, she was my boss and bosses’ boss at the last 2 companies I had worked for and she was now a mentor/coach. I knew that if anyone could help me achieve what I wanted it was Reem, a powerhouse with unlimited motivation!
Reem introduced me to the practice of gratitude. At first, I was reluctant. It was another thing I needed to fit into my day – ‘really was that even possible!’ But I did and after a week my whole mindset had started to shift. I was seeing the beautiful amazing things that my day held, the things that I had somehow stopped seeing amongst all the noise.
“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” – Mary Davis
I would wake up and write down 10 things that I was grateful for, at first, they were the basics, my kids, my partner, safety etc but as the days went on, it became deeper and more meaningful, more fun. I would pinpoint tiny features of my day and the people around me, even challenges that I faced and look at what strengths I was growing.
I don’t practice the written form of daily gratitude anymore but I know when I need to. I know that I should, so that the times that I ‘need to’ would be less. What I do now is organically give gratitude throughout the day, whist driving, taking a shower, making a coffee. It has become second nature and life is better because of it.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Melody Beattie
I guess the reason I wanted to share my experience and practice of gratitude was to acknowledge that life can feel like a lot sometimes – motherhood, your journey to motherhood, just life! There are often up and downs, that’s normal, but it is important not to say in the down too long and the best method I have found to pick me back up is the Practice of Gratitude.
