Giving Thanks

It was hard to know where to begin on this Upword. There are so many things for which I give thanks. I am finally keeping that gratitude journal that Christine Kane and other coaches recommend and it truly is phenomenal to reflect on and write down five things I am grateful for each day ending every day on such a positive note. Reading back through them gives me so much joy.

Lori Koop was asking for something a bit different though last week.She wanted us to reflect on what we thanked OURSELVES for. At first this didn't feel quite right to me. However it rang some bells and reminded me of posts I had recently read.

With the level of interest this topic is getting, it seems like this is something too few of us do but would benefit from doing more. The more I thought about it, I realized that if we aren't loving ourselves first, we block our ability to fully love others.

Emily Long, another UYB colleague and amazing poet in her blog Healing Pages had perhaps one of my favorite posts on the topic called "Gratitude for the One Person Often Overlooked." Like me, Emily reflects in her piece that "When the thought of putting myself on my list first popped into my head, I hesitated. It seemed a little self-centered or narcissistic to say I was grateful for myself."

I was right there with her. I thank everybody all the time and was actually excited to start a gratitude journal as part of Uplevel Your Life program homework. We all get so many blessings from the universe every single day that pulling out the top five is sometimes difficult for me, a 7 or “the enthusiast” on the enneagram. But putting me on the list? That wasn't even something I've even contemplated...until now.

Coincidentally, Tonya Leigh Williams, my fabulous life coach, has also asked us to reflect on this in her blog this month and has even come up with a fabulous free “A Girl After Her Own Heart” tool. Two of her morals on this self love lesson really resonated with me:

* You cannot expect someone else to recognize what you don’t see in yourself

* Self-love is the best gift you can give yourself and the world

Another one of our UpLevel Your Business colleagues and friend Stacey Curnow also recently had a great post called "Write a Love Letter to Yourself in 3 Easy Steps." Stacey remarks that when we don't focus on loving ourselves first, we aren't likely to be serving others from a place of joy and grace but instead from one of sacrifice and suffering.

Ok! Ok! I'm a believer now! It's important to be grateful to me too and appreciate the gifts I give myself and others.

So here goes – I thank myself for

* living, eating and drinking consciously
* always showing up with a positive attitude
* being there for my husband, sisters, neighbors, and knowing when to say no so I can still be there for me
* giving myself the space to let my creativity flow
* investing in myself with Uplevel Your Life and Luscious Lean Living programs as well as hiring Tonya Williams as my life coach this year
* caring enough about myself to get healthy, start an exercise program, go for regular checkups
* being open to the possibilities
* breathing
* creating this warm, beautiful environment we call home
* adopting my wonderful dog, Islay Bear, from Westie Rescue
* giving myself the gift of yoga
* establishing and focusing on keeping worthwhile connections strong in life and business
* following through with self-publishing White Dog Haikus and launching my writing career
* filling my home and body with healthy foods
* the courage to eliminate things I have saved that no longer serve the me I want to be

What do you give yourself thanks for today? This week? This year?