Hello, Powerful Person!
Appreciating what we have, as well as what we’ve been temporarily relieved of, is all about gratitude. We grow in gratitude when we begin to notice the good things in life. We are not bound by monetary and material constraints, rather, we reflect on our family and our friendships, and we are thankful for our health. We are humbled by the majesty of a sunrise, and we revel in the beauty of spring.
Author, speaker, and educator Brene Brown contends that “We’re a nation hungry for more joy: Because we’re starving from a lack of gratitude.” She explains that “becoming fully human means learning to turn my gratitude for being alive into some concrete common good. It means growing gentler toward human weakness. It means practicing forgiveness of my and everyone else’s hourly failures to live up to divine standards.”
So how do we cultivate such a priceless gift? It’s surprisingly simple:
- Keep a gratitude journal: One way to grow in gratitude is to document your daily joys. Capture at least three things that went well each day and identify the cause. Was it the fruition of your hard work? The kindness of a stranger? An answered prayer? In your reflections, include what DIDN’T happen that day, but could have. Simple blessings like getting to work without an accident, a flat tire, or a coffee spill are noteworthy entries.
- Reframe a challenge: Reflect on a situation that, at surface level, is unquestionably negative. It is frustrating, draining, or even demeaning. Adjust your perspective so that you see it in a positive light. If you’ve recently been relegated to menial tasks in your volunteer work, consider how you can do them exceptionally well and model humility while you fulfill your duties. If your career is particularly demanding, be thankful that you are gainfully employed and that you have the mental agility to learn new things. In other words, celebrate that you are neither broke nor bored.
- Think about people who have inspired you and why: Dig deeply as you pinpoint what makes them special. Is it their ability to make others feel valued? Stay calm under pressure? Give freely and joyfully? Glory in your good fortune to have such commendable role models and consider how you can emulate their positive attributes.
- Engage in “mental subtraction”: Imagine what your life would be like if some positive event had not occurred. What if you had never met your spouse, befriended your BFF, landed your job, or moved to a new city? While every relationship, responsibility, and relocation brings challenges, make a conscious effort to acknowledge the blessings inherent in each.
Having “grown our gratitude,” it’s time to bloom. We do so by writing thank-you notes to our role models, sending uplifting thoughts to our friends, paying sincere compliments to strangers, and offering kind words to everyone we meet. Such simple pleasantries are like sunshine to our soles; they warm our hearts and brighten our days.
I am so grateful for each of you and continue to be humbled by the rave reviews of Fierce Vulnerability: A Colored Girl’s Truths, Trials, and Triumphs.
I marvel at the conversations we’re having along the virtual book tour around bring fierce vulnerability to the workplace, to our personal relationships, and to the world.
As the name suggests, this engrossing tale follows four powerful black women through their darkest lows and their pinnacle highs. It exposes the deepest insecurities each heroin fights to suppress as she exudes confidence and competence in her public persona within our nation’s capital.
Thank you for becoming personally invested in these raw and real women who wrestle with conflicting commitments as wives, mothers, friends, and professionals. Your support fuels me as I write Fierce Vulnerability 2. I am grateful.
Be well.
Sophia
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