start monday with gratitude

Today you’re going to treat yourself.

It can be anything, small or large, but it has to be something you love to eat, have, or experience.

Something that, you know, will bring you such joy.

Then go out and buy it. Relish it. Enjoy it.

If, for example, it is a bar of creamy, thick, indulgent chocolate, will you savour every tiny bite, eating it slowly, letting it melt in your mouth? Or will you gobble it down greedily, enjoying the feeling of pure satisfaction when it’s finished?

Whatever you choose to do, whatever feels most enjoyable to you, that’s what you do.

No judgement. No regrets. No guilt. Just sheer pleasure.

How do you feel?

How much enjoyment did you receive?

How grateful are you for treating yourself today?

Shall we repeat yesterday’s experiment?

Even with that very suggestion that we might repeat it, can you feel your excitement grow?

Today I invite you to choose a treat for yourself. Again, it can be anything, small or large, but it has to be something you love to eat, have, or experience.

If you wish, you can choose the same thing you chose yesterday. It’s up to you.

Now. Go to the shop or store where you can purchase it.

Stand in front of your product for a minute or so.

Lift it up, touch it, feel it, smell it (if applicable).

Really ignite that same feeling of excitement you experienced yesterday.

Now set the product back down and walk out of the shop or store.

How do you feel?

Having built up all the excitement, having touched, held smelled the treat of your choice, how does it feel to have walked away form it and denied yourself its pleasure?

Why tempt yourself to something so wonderful and then deny yourself it?

Why feel grateful for something but deny your soul the joy of expressing your gratitude?

Today you’ll need the help of someone who knows you really well, someone who knows how to make you smile, what you enjoy. It could be a partner, a family member, or a best friend.

Choose carefully.

Choose the one person who, if you asked them to buy you something you would love to receive, they would pick the perfect gift. Now do just that. Ask them to buy you something that you will love to receive.

You might want to give them some money to do so.

The gift doesn’t have to be big, nor does it need to cost much.

Before they give you the gift, they have bought for you, however, there is one stipulation: it needs to come wrapped as a present. They can ask the shop assistant to wrap it for them or they can do it themselves. But it must be handed to you wrapped like a beautiful present.

When they’re ready to hand it to you, ask them to, first, take some time to tease you about your gift a little. Ask them to give you some hints as to what it might be without telling you what it is. The aim is to get your excitement rising, to get your curiosity peaking.

When they’ve finished teasing you, they can hand you the gift.

But you cannot open it. You cannot see what’s inside. You cannot enjoy what’s inside.

How does that feel?

Do you not just want to rip open the paper to reveal the gift hidden inside? Of course you do! But you can’t, so how do you feel?

Is there any point in wrapping a gift, giving it and then the receiver can’t enjoy it? Then what’s the point of feeling grateful for something but not expressing it.

We’ve all received a gift that we didn’t really want. Perhaps it was that pair of woolly socks at Christmas from Aunt Jane. Or perhaps it was that bar of tee-tree soap for your birthday from Great Auntie Ginny.

How did you react when you received that gift?

How did receiving that gift make you feel? Flat? Deflated? Disappointed? Frustrated?

Do you think the gift-giver would have wanted you to feel that way?

Every gift is chosen thoughtfully.

Perhaps your Great Auntie Ginny heard that you enjoy using essential oils and thought this would be a beautiful gift for you. Perhaps you’re going skiing soon and your Aunt Jane thought the socks would be perfect for keeping your feet warm.

Thinking back to those gifts, now having more insight into the thinking behind them and the thoughtfulness of the gift-giver, do you feel more grateful for them?

Sometimes we need to extend our perspective and see something from the eyes of the giver, whether that giver is a person, the Universe or, indeed, the creator of our own reality, ourselves.

When we change our perspective, it makes it easier to express gratitude for the more challenging gifts that we receive.

As a child I was always taught to say, ‘thank you’ and express my gratitude for anything I received, whether I liked the gift or not.

I never fully grasped the importance of this life lesson until I had nieces and nephews and was on the other side of the gift-giving, the giver, not the receiver.

When you give a gift to someone, no matter how small, there is nothing more beautiful, nothing more heart-warming than for them to honour the thought you placed into the gift by thanking you, whether they loved the gift or not.

Whatever gift you receive in life, from another person, from yourself, or from the Universe, take the time to express gratitude for it, whether it is something you have been wishing for or whether it is something that has come out of the blue and doesn’t, perhaps, initially seem or feel positive.

Sometimes, children in their sheer (and sometimes brutal) honesty will receive a gift, decide they don’t like it, and toss it aside, right in front of the gift-giver.

Have you ever given someone a gift and it’s been rejected in your presence? I have… and it wasn’t a child.

Or have you ever had a dream, something you want to achieve in life, and you’ve been all excited and shared it with someone who starts to question the reality of the dream, poo-poos it, or simply takes a pin and pops your dream bubble?

If you have experienced either of these scenarios, can you remember the emotions you felt?

If you haven’t experienced either of these, can you imagine how you would feel?

That’s how a person or the Universe feels every time you’re giving something, and you don’t express gratitude for it.

And when you regularly fail to express gratitude for the things that come your way, what do you think the gift-giver will do? They’ll stop giving you things, right?

Do you want the Universe to stop sending you blessing and miracles every day, no matter how large or small they may be?

Take some time today expressing gratitude for all the gifts you received in life, either from another person, from yourself, or from the Universe.

How many of these gifts did you forget about until you started this exercise?

How many of these gifts are you expressing gratitude for, for the first time?