I got so many nice responses to my one-minute reboot that I thought I might try to make a semi-regular thing out of one-minute ideas. Today: One-minute gratitude.
As you may have guessed, it's a pretty simple process. I'm of the opinion the simplest processes are the ones that have the most profound impact. Rather than complicate them with all that messy cognitive interference (aka "thinking!"), they touch something basic within us.
Here are the steps. There will not be a test at the end.
1. Find a quiet spot.
2. Breathe deeply.
3. Give thanks for something.
4. Breathe some more.
5. Reluctantly leave your quiet spot, but promise it that you will return!
See, I even gave you some exit instructions.
Gratitude is a process that we tend to muck up with our emotional reactions, our learned prejudices and assumptions, and all kinds of other stuff. Like the one-minute reboot, the trick is to let go of the judgment and just be simply thankful, without a reason or an explanation. If your shoes feel good, flood them with your loving gratitude. Good hair day? That works fine. Someone did something nice for you? Direct your uncomplicated flow of love and gratitude their way.
As the complications come in, be grateful for your mind's ability to produce such complicated loveliness and then let them GO. Return to that powerful stream of pure thankfulness. Let it wash over you. Pick a color. Is gratitude green and vibrant? Is it muted and smoky? Plaid? Your choice. Envision it touching the object of thanks, if you want. Let your pulsing blue river of gratitude flood over that guy who held the door open on the bus. See it however you'd like.
The point isn't to do it right. There is no point, really, other than being in that moment of thanks, touching it, letting it become a part of you.
One minute! That's all. No goal. No way to do it right. Just an opportunity to do it.
Let me know what you think!
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