Monday Mindfulness Minute: Trust The Inner Stability of Gratitude

"When the big things feel out of control focus on what you love right under your nose." - The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

I've always had awful external balance. No matter the activity—rollerblading, skateboarding, or ice skating—they all seem to end with the same result: me on the ground. That's probably why I laugh when I see YouTube videos of people slipping on ice; it makes me feel a little less alone about my lack of balance (come on, I know you laugh at them too).

As it turns out, the mind at times can be more unstable and slippery than any amount of ice we find ourselves on outside. We all know what internal slipping feels like: we are completely fine enjoying our day when out of nowhere one of the 70,000 thoughts that usually floats by seems to stick. This thought could range from why we did something 10 years ago to what will happen in 2 years if we make x or y decision and anything in between. While this sticking thought may seem harmless, like the first blanket of snow on a road, it can quickly solidify as we think about it more and more ("Neurotic behavior is sometimes defined as a frozen pattern." Awakening the Buddha Within). Before we know it, we can completely slip away from the now to the land of illusions.

So how do we return to solid ground when we feel ourselves slipping on thoughts inside? If only there were an internal lifeline we could grab a hold of to steady ourselves when we get lost in the past or future. As it turns out there is. That lifeline is gratitude.

Gratitude isn't thinking about what could have been or could be but an appreciation for what is right in front of us. The tree we see outside our window. The coworker we chat with every day at work. The body that gives us the opportunity to experience any of this.

The power of gratitude lies in its ability to help us return to the present moment and appreciate what we have "right under our noses" (as the quote at the beginning states). While gratitude for the "big" things in life is great, finding gratitude for the "smallest" (aka the most under-appreciated) things helps me get back on my feet the quickest. An example of one of the "small" things is the breath. If I'm able to see myself slipping, acknowledging and having gratitude for this breath never fails to re-balance me in the present.

While at first, we may only turn to gratitude when we notice ourselves slipping into the unchangeable past or unknowable future, it eventually becomes a life practice that is always there to help us thaw a thought that starts to stick. We make the decision every day of whether we want to spend our life off-balance on the ice of mind, or whether we practice gratitude and return to the child-like enjoyment of splashing in puddles of thoughts that appear but never quite solidify.