Having an attitude of gratitude has never been more important. As the lock-down due to the Covid-19 outbreak continues, our mental health is taking a bit of a hit. No matter how positive we are normally, all this isolation and bad news is sure to take its toll. Strangely enough, when things seem at their worst is the very time when we should be looking for the good in every situation.
If you think that’s a really big ask, well, yes it is. But it’s well worth the effort, because cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a very powerful self care tool. Let’s look at the practicalities – it’s impossible to feel grateful and negative at the same time. If you don’t believe it, just try saying ‘thank you’ out loud and see what happens, physically and emotionally.
For a start, you can’t say ‘thank you’ without smiling, even slightly. And just the sound of the words is enough to lift your spirits. As you say ‘thank you,’ you feel yourself standing straight and tall, lifting your head, and at the same time, you feel a positive shift in energy. That’s the beginning of gratitude.
So, how do you build gratitude into your life? It’s simple really. Whenever you feel down, upset, depressed – any sort of negative feeling – think of three things that make you happy right now. It can be as basic as a nice cup of tea, just when you need it. Maybe your child or your partner brought you tea and biscuits in bed. Look at all the things you have to be grateful for. You have a comfortable home, a family who care, and the time to enjoy your tea and biscuits before you need to do anything else.
Now we’ve covered the practical side, what are the spiritual benefits of an attitude of gratitude? Under the Law of Attraction, the thoughts and feelings you put out into the Universe attract more of the same into your life. So if you count your blessings, you will attract more reasons to be cheerful into your life. So it makes sense to send out good thoughts, and nip the negatives in the bud.
One of the best ways to do this is to use positive affirmations. This can be a simple phrase you repeat to yourself, or it can be a sort of positive prayer, where you don’t ask for help, you say thank you for the good things. You don’t need to say this out loud for the Universe to hear you – your thoughts have enough energy to carry them where they need to go. And you don’t need fancy words and phrases, or to use religious terminology. All you have to do is feel the gratitude in your heart.
I was talking with a friend a few days ago. He’s a successful businessman, but he feels for his clients, who are all worried about how their own businesses will manage to ride out the lock-down. When you’re an empath, you can worry about others as well as yourself, and it’s very draining energetically.
As I was talking him through some coping strategies and exercises to raise his vibrational energy, I was given an affirmation, channelled through Archangel Michael. I was told to share it with him, and also with others who might need to be reminded that an attitude of gratitude can strengthen your soul and help you through the dark times and bring in more success. I suggest you print this off or write it out, and read through it when you need to.
You may wish to carry it with you. Words are like crystals – they carry healing energy, and if you keep them close to you, you may feel extra benefits. When you want to read your affirmation prayer, find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed, and take a few deep, calming breaths, as if you were preparing for meditation. I like to hold a hand over my heart, and visualise the words coming from my heart, into the air around me.
Love and blessings, and I hope this beautiful affirmation prayer, channelled from Archangel Michael, brings you comfort.
Affirmation for gratitude and success
(Channelled from Archangel Michael, 19 May 2020)
Thank you, Universe, for all the blessings in my life.
I am grateful for my happy family
I am blessed with my beautiful home
I am fortunate in my friends
I am surrounded by love
I love my work, which keeps me busy serving others
I have everything I need for happiness within me
I am truly blessed
I am truly grateful
I am truly content
Thank you, Universe for the abundance in my life right now
And so it is
As we head to the August full moon, the energies suggest that we clear stuff that no longer serves us and drags our vibrations down, ready to replace the low, stagnant energies with something more positive. Full moon is a time for abundance, but in order to bring in the good, we have to release the bad energies – whether coming from ourselves, from others, or from situations.
I have something I really need to release right now, and I was meditating on it this morning when I was given this exercise. Although it is initially a gift to me from Spirit, they know I like to share anything that helps me grow and learn, so here it is.
Are you dealing with a particular issue that is allowing lower energies into your space? Think of a sentence, or even just a word, that sums up what you need to release. Mine is ‘I refuse to allow those who do not serve my highest good to disturb my inner peace and steal my joy’
Now get a large sheet of paper. draw a big pink heart on it, and write your sentence in big letters inside the heart. Take up all the space, so that your issue is literally enclosed and touched by loving heart energy. In the two mounds at the top of the heart, write your signature and the date on the left side, and the time on the right side.
Here’s the twist – choose a coloured pencil or pen to help you to release what you need to, and also amplify the blessings you will receive once you have cleared this energy block. Working with colours can be very insightful, and very therapeutic spiritually as well. As with most colour related practices Spirit give me, it’s based around red, blue, green and yellow.
In my case, I wrote my sentence in red, and not just because it is my favourite colour! Red is for courage, strength and empowerment, and I need courage and strength to work through this particularly challenging release. The empowerment follows successful release, which will help myself and a very good friend to eliminate an ongoing negative impact in both our lives and move forward in joy.
If it’s a healing situation, for yourself and/or others, choose green. It’s a colour to help you deal with the stresses of the modern world in all its manifestations, whether related to work or personal life. Your reward is balance and harmony, and a feeling of renewed energy.
If the situation is centred around communication or trust, then write in blue. It’s the colour of clarity, communication and peaceful reconciliation. Your reward is peace, tranquility, and physical and emotional relaxation.
Is something or someone stealing your joy? Maybe you have a personal block that is preventing you from moving into the creative and abundant state of being we all deserve to experience. Write your sentence in yellow. Yellow gives you the confidence and self esteem you need to move through this situation and live your best life in happiness and joy.
Once your paper is ready, call on Archangel Ariel, the Angel of Abundance to help you. Invoke Ariel by saying, ‘Archangel Ariel’ three times to form a strong connection, then inwardly or out loud, whichever suits you best, say these words:
Archangel Ariel, I call on you in humility, love and grace to help me to release and transmute any negativity in any shape or form that is preventing me from moving into abundance and joy and living my best life
I use the cleansing power of fire to return this energy to the Earth, so that from it, love may rise like a phoenix and embrace all those who have been affected.
It is done
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Now hold the paper over your heart centre with the words facing inwards. Take three deep breaths in through the nose, holding each breath for a count of three before releasing through the mouth..Imagine white, cleansing clouds of air entering your body, and black clouds of negativity leaving it, getting lighter on each exhale.
If, after three breaths, you are still visualising very dark smoke, take three more breaths, and then three more if you need to. The aim is to visualise those black clouds turning to grey, and maybe even white, because that means you are actively releasing negativity, even though you may not feel any different.
Finally, hold the paper over a fireproof dish or container, light a stick of white sage incense, and before the flame goes out and the incense starts to smoke, touch the stick to the bottom corner of the paper to set it alight. The cleansing flames of white sage will begin to transmute the energies in the paper.
When it has burned through, bury the ashes in a corner of your garden that you can see all the time, or that you walk past regularly. Visualise the remnants of the paper turning into the vibrant pink light of unconditional love, and imagine that light reaching upwards and outwards like the branches of a big tree, and filling you with light and love. Now, visualise opening your heart centre to send that love anyone involved in the situation, or even just the situation itself.
Do this every day for a week. If you still feel you haven’t released most or all of your emotions related to the sentence on the paper, you can repeat the practice again. Releasing is like peeling away layers of an onion – sometimes, it’s fairly easy, at other times, you have to work a bit harder to achieve the outcome you want.
I did my releasing exercise yesterday, and I feel so much more settled and motivated today. I’ve done a bunch of stuff around the house – probably as much as I’d do in three or four days normally. I’m tired now, but it’s a good tired. I feel I’ve accomplished something important with this release, and I’m ready to move forward in love and joy. Let me know how you get on in the comments. Please do read more on my blog. Love and blessings to you all.