start monday with gratitude

Think of a time when you were faced with a challenge and all you focused on were the negatives, the things that you perceived could go wrong.

And then, when the outcome came about, it was every bit as negative as you perceived.

You could say it was a case of “Ughhhh… I knew that would happen”.

Even though you expected the worst and received exactly what you expected, how did you feel?

Did you feel triumphant that you were able to foresee the outcome? Or did you feel low that what you expected, really happened?

Where did focusing on the negatives and expected the worst, get you? How did that benefit you? Did it benefit you in anyway?

And do you think that by focusing on the negative and expecting a negative result that you lowered your vibration and actually ended up receiving an outcome of similar vibration to your expectations?

Think of a time when you were faced with a challenge and you chose to focus on the positive, you chose to expect something good to come out of it.

Then the outcome came and, indeed, the result was positive.

How did it feel to focus on the positive and expected a good outcome? And how did it feel when a positive outcome came about?

Did it encourage you to think positively in future when other challenges cross your path?

Do you feel you had any influence over the outcome by seeking out and expecting a positive result or was it just ‘chance’?

Do you think that, because you expected something positive and therefore raised your vibration to a higher level that you, perhaps, attracted an outcome with a similar vibration?

Think of a time when you were faced with a challenge and you chose to focus on the positive, you chose to expect something good to come out of it.

Then the outcome came about, and it wasn’t the best outcome, it wasn’t the outcome you had expected or wanted; things didn’t go your way.

When you remember the outcome you wanted and expected, did you focus on the very best outcome possible or was did you focus on an acceptable outcome? And when you think about that outcome now, could it have been better? And, indeed, could it also have turned out worse? Although it wasn’t what you had hoped, could it have been much worse?

When you think about what you expected and what you received as the outcome, were they hugely different or do you think their vibrations may have been relatively similar? Although focused on the positive, were you actually ‘playing it safe’ and not hoping for too much?

Think about how you would have felt if you had focused on and expected the worst outcome and you had received exactly what you expected, how much worse would that have been compared to expecting something positive and receiving the outcome you did?

Can you see that, although things may not have worked out the way you would have liked or wished, that they probably worked out better than they might have? And can you see that, perhaps, the vibration of your expectation could have been higher giving you a better possibility of attracting a better result towards you?

Think of as many challenges, both big and small, that you have faced over the last 2 to 3 years.

How many times have you expected a negative outcome and how many times have you expected a positive outcome?

Which type of outcome do you find your expectations are more naturally drawn towards; negative or positive? In other words, do you tend to focus on the thorns more or on the rose?

And how often have you received the outcome you’ve expected?

Think of challenges that may be currently sitting on your path, both big and small.

Having spent a number of weeks training your brain towards the higher vibrational frequency of gratitude, when you consider the outcomes of those challenges, are you tending towards more positive expected outcomes or are you tending towards more negative expected outcomes?

There’s no right answer here. I simply want you to observe your thinking and where your expectations stand today compared with where they were in the past.

If you find you’re tending more towards positive expectations, more so than you were in the past, then your gratitude practice is becoming ingrained in your very being and changing your outlook and expectations in life.

If you find you still tend towards more negative expectations, it simply means that your pattern, habit and behaviour is deeply ingrained in you, and it simply takes a bit longer to change that programming. The more deeply ingrained a pattern is for us, the longer it takes to change it.

If you feel you still tend towards the negative, I invite you to look deeper and ask, “Is the negative outcome I expect as bad as would have expected in the past?” and I would suspect the answer to that is no.

Think back to a challenge where you focused and expected a negative outcome.

When you were focused on the negative, what you would have seen as the challenge progressed would have been negativity, thorns.

By recalling everything about that challenge, can you now see how many positive things and aspects you missed as a result of being focused on the negative?

Think back to a challenge where you focused and expected a positive outcome. Recall everything about that challenge in as much detail as you can.

Whether the outcome was as you expected, better than you expected, or not as good as you expected, how much positivity and goodness did you experience as a result of that challenge crossing your path?

How much did you learn from it?

How much did you grow as a result?

Can you see that even though the outcome may not have been as you wanted or expected, that you still received so much good from the experience?