Today, I wanted to walk ten laps inside of a building - it was too cold for me outside. (I knew that ten laps in this hallway would be about 30 minutes and I left my phone in my desk on purpose, determined to breathe mindfully as I walked)
I soon noticed that I was forgetting which lap I was on unless I kept count with each breath and I didn't want to do that.
Out of the blue, I was inspired to practice gratitude to keep count of my laps.
I restarted with lap one and thought of one thing I was grateful for - my full recovery from pneumonia; During that lap, I felt my appreciation for my healthy body grow. I could not have forgotten the number one even if I wanted to.
On the second lap, I thought of two beings: my son and my dog. This resulted in an enjoyable trip down memory lane, recalling the best parts of our experiences together.
On the third lap, I thought about a woman who is telling me her fascinating life story so that we can write her memoir together, my generous best friend, and my yoga practice.
Again, it was so easy to remember the lap number, three.
I did this gratitude practice all the way up to ten laps, and by that point, I had so many people in my mind that I couldn't even begin to fit them all into only ten spaces.
I started to group them- my yoga teachers, my girlfriends, my family, my coworkers, etc.
As I walked back to my desk, I was inspired by the power of gratitude and the gift of mindfulness. If you find yourself forgetful, bored, frustrated, distracted, procrastinating (or on the verge of giving up), try thinking about a few circumstances, animals or people that inspire thankfulness in you.
You're likely to feel better quickly and re-awaken your ability to make the next, right choice, re-energize your commitments, organize the information you'd like to retain, and stay focused as you work to meet your goals.
Thanks for reading. Have a mindfully happy evening.
Oh , and I do want to brag that I was NOT talking to myself out loud for a change - ha ha!
PS: I did a little research on the brain chemistry of gratitude and the positive impact is immediate, and REAL.
(I felt so good by the end of this walk that when my hard drive crashed an hour later (no kidding for real utter computer meltdown), I was able to stay calm and happy, automatically thinking: "There's not a damn thing I can do about this right now. I can re-create whatever I need. It will be okay." trust me when I tell you that's a flipping miracle!)