Brooke Castillo

Be Happy Action/Gratitude.

Awesome! with Alison Podcast. 

Awesome! with Alison Podcast. 

Yeah, I am freaking Grateful!  Over the past month, I have been listening to a lot of Awesome with Alison Podcast's. Usually on my daily bus commute to work or in the evenings while I am trying to chillax. Alison (The Alison Show) and her husband Eric's (Pleasant Pictures Studios) weekly saucy segments and tantalizing topic's have definitely helped me put a much needed pep in my self step again. Ha, it sounds like I am describing a cooking show?!? But, my  favorites podcasts, Ep. 23: WHAT IS a gratitude practice?! And how can it change your life?! We’ll tell you!  and it's follow-up, Ep. 24: I’M FREAKING GRATEFUL: A gratitude practice to help you love your life! do "cook" up some good old helpings of Motivation. And I am not kidding people... it definitely has pushed my own gratuitous nature to new heights. Some Big life-changing shifts and that is why I am sharing it with you!

I have always considered myself a pretty grateful person and try to see life and its daily challenges with a positive twist.  Especially this year with my heart surgery in April. My gratitude meter has been on overdrive and I really wanted to find better ways of putting all this new Gratitude to action. Then came along Alison's Episode 8 podcast, reflecting on her recent weight loss and and a little introduction into how gratitude played a big part of her own transformation. So, when Episodes 23 and 24 came along sharing more Gratitude Attitude.  I knew I needed to get in gear. 

Morning Pages Transformed. First it began with reworking my 20 plus year old  daily routine of Morning Pages  (writing 3 long hand pages of whatever comes to mind) to a One Page Gratitude Practice instead. Why? The Artist Way Morning Pages have served me very well or the years. Taking the mind chatter that has discouraged my creativity and turned it into positive thoughts. But, for the last few years I have found it becoming more of a hum drum habit with little creative results. And obviously since doing morning pages since my Early 20's and now being 42. My creative needs have changed. I know longer need to keep my inner creative critic in check. I am actually pretty confident in this area now:) But, don't get me wrong this always be a creative tool I will hold dear and suggest to anyone. 

Then after using Alison's gratitude practice for a few weeks, which simply consists  of naming and honoring your gratitude while being physically active. I decided then to take it a step further by creating my own twist. I began experimenting with writing one long hand page of gratitude with my Morning coffee. 

A Gratitude Page. I first begin with a clean page and a quick Hello to God. Next I begin each sentence with I am grateful...

 I am grateful for my coffee. I am grateful for a good night sleep. I am grateful for falling at work last Friday to remind myself to slow down and take care of my health first. I am grateful for my new blog and how it has refreshed my love for this hobby. I am grateful for my love of design and how it keeps me growing creatively. I am grateful for *** not responding back to me and the reminder that I need to invest in people, who invest in me. I grateful for being alone right now in life, so I can relearn to be my own friend and advocate. I am grateful for September and all it's seasonal inspiration. I am grateful for a clean house and a fridge full of groceries. I am grateful for podcasts to fall asleep too. I am grateful for my job that allows moments like this. I am grateful for my bus rides and the quiet reflection it creates. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for love. 

Above was a little sample of my own, so can get idea how easy it is.  I can't begin to say how much I have learned and shifted personally in the last week or so  from doing this everyday. I have reworked what normally,  like a recent fall at work would be considered negative to positive affirmation. Remembering that everything does happen for a reason. I also love celebrating the everyday things that I usually would totally take for-granted and even turning my loneliness into a gift. 

One aspect of this Gratitude page practice I didn't share above is how amazing it is to also be grateful for goals and personal projects as if they have already been done and met. I believe if we name, claim and show gratitude for things we want to see in our lives. It opens us up to their possibility.     

Happy Action Challenge: Now it is your turn:) I would highly suggest you visit the above Awesome with Alison podcast links and listen up! Then create your own unique gratitude practice or share with me how Gratitude is already a part of your life and remember:

"Be Happy where you are, and use that energy to Create something Amazing" -Brooke Castillo

Love, C.