C-19: Counting Your Wins

Gratitude practices were growing in importance even before the pandemic. I see them as a highly important skill (right after grounding) to have during the pandemic.

We are all experiencing the grief of having aspects of our lives cut off. We are faced with unprecedented uncertainty about what the future will hold. We need to experience all of the feelings (I’ll post more on this in future posts), and we can train our minds to look for the small (or medium, large, tiny, etc.) places to be grateful. This helps the mind focus on what is under our control and what we can build on, which leads to schemas for hope building. For instance, there was a small technology road bump in my other job, and it got solved this week. And the result of the small change feels big to me because I got something off my plate and my work will be easier going forward.

I’ll share some other “gratefuls”:

I am grateful for food, even if it not what I would normally buy.

I am grateful for the presence of my pets.

I am grateful that my family members who are following social distancing protocols.

I am grateful for clean (er) floors after I swept downstairs.

I am grateful to get to see friends through video platforms.

I am grateful when I take a 10 minute walk.

I am grateful that our neighborhood tabby visited my back yard and lounged under a flowering bush where I could enjoy their ease.

I am grateful for a shower and brushing my teeth.

And noticing all of these gratefuls is a win. It lets me know what I need more of and to be able to notice that change can occur even in times feel limited.

I’ve had a number of wins this week. Writing my daily blog post yesterday was not one of them….because I forgot to write the post. I apologize for being inconsistent. On the other hand, yesterday was more packed than normal and I am having some gratitude that my mind let me forget and unwind a bit.

See you tomorrow.