What are you grateful for? How might you stop and notice? 

I recently participated in a gratitude circle led by Omar Brownson and Belinda Liu of Gratitude Blooming. They have created a reflection card deck focused on gratitude.

During the session, we each selected one of 39 cards. Every card contains a word and a hand-drawn flower. For example, the card with the number 8 has the word community and the image of a bleeding heart flower. You are asked to look at the card and notice what ideas and feelings emerge.

Every card has a prompt or two to support your reflection. For example the prompt for the card that says community is: “Which hearts in your community are you grateful for? How can you express it to them?”

One of my colleagues picked the card with an image of a rose and the word was choice. She was prompted to consider the following: “Are you facing a decision right now? Try to be grateful for the choices available to you. What does your heart want to choose?”

In listening to her reflect on the card, I noticed my own surprise at the idea of being grateful for my choices, rather than being overwhelmed by them – which is sometimes where I find myself.

Instead of feeling burdened by choices, I can stop and pause, breathe, and express gratitude for the choices in front of me. And then notice, what does my heart want to choose? 

The cards provide a delightful tool for shifting your perspective and noticing what matters to you so that you can reinforce living in accord with your values. 

And according to this article citing research by Dr. Martin Seligman, Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough, gratitude helps us to feel happier, savor our good experiences, improve our health, deal with adversity and strengthen our relationships. 

So take a moment to pause, and notice, what are you grateful for?