Daily Practice of Gratitude

by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH

I am getting ready for bed. Part of my getting ready for bed routine is my daily practice of gratitude. Today's gratitude practice is "The Money Magnet." If you do the 28 Days of Gratitude course (it's free), you will know right where I am. The exercise for today is to first say ten things I am grateful for and why. I have that down. I feel like I can always find ten things to be grateful for every day. Today, I am grateful for my dog, my home, the salad I ate for dinner, the warmth in my home, my socks, running water, television, friends, the places I have lived, the beauty of fall, and my writing skills.

In fact, being grateful for my writing skills is what motivated me to write today. I have been really struggling with finding the words or knowing what to say. I realized I should write about what I talk about every day. What is a really important part of my life? That is gratitude.

Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH

The second part of today's gratitude practice is harder for me. It's to change the way you feel about money. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of limiting beliefs about money. From the time I was a toddler until I was eight years old, I was in and out of foster homes. That constant instability was challenging because it never gave me a real sense of belonging. It's hard to explain how it feels when someone says, "You can be here, but you aren't really a part of our lives." 

The other part of living in foster homes is that you don't have a sense of ownership or possession of anything or that you deserve anything. Nothing was "mine." It wasn't my room forever. It was someone else's home. Someone else's room. I didn't have a sense of attachment to anything because there was really nothing to attach to. In the midst of all of that, I developed limiting beliefs about what I did and did not deserve, including money. I know I'm not alone in having limiting beliefs about money. A lot of people have the same issue. 

A sure fire way to make my blood pressure sky rocket is for me to start worrying about my bills. I do worry about it a lot. Ever since I started my life over and started a business, I think I wake up worrying about money, and I go to bed worrying about money. I pray about it. I manifest about it. I put a lot of negative energy into my belief that I have a lack of money. Even as I'm writing this, I am starting to give myself a stomach ache. I am so worried I won't have enough money for whatever it is that I need. Not want -- need.

Today's gratitude practice is to teach me—and you—to have good feelings about money. It's a huge challenge to change that mindset, to change the limiting belief that I don't deserve it, I can't have it, or it's something for other people to have but not me. 

To change the way I view money, I have to show how grateful I am for the money I have had in my life. I have to believe I am worthy of having money and as Sonia Ricotti teaches, that "money flows to me freely, easily, and from everywhere." I don't feel like it does. To start the night's gratitude practice, I am supposed to find ten bills that I haven't paid, which should be easy, and say, "Thank you for the money." Then, I am supposed to believe -- or have faith -- that I will have the money to pay those ten bills. That's the hard part. I always feel like I live in a life of lack. Changing from a lack to an abundance mindset is challenging for me -- especially when it comes to money. 

Once I have practiced having faith that I have money, then I am supposed to show gratitude for the money I have received. I will say, "Thank you, paid" for all the bills I have paid in the past. Because money became available for the bills to be paid. 

Right before I turn off the light, I take a rock in my hand that has the word "inspire" on it. I say thank you, thank you, thank you for the thing I am most grateful for. Then, I kiss the rock, turn out the light, lay down in my comfortable bed, and start my nighttime meditation.