This is Day 5 of the 15-Day Affirmation Challenge held in July 2014, where we practice positive affirmations for 15 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Dear everyone, welcome to Day 5 of our 15-Day Affirmation Challenge! :D
Here is the overview of all the posts for the challenge so far:
- Affirmation Challenge announcement and signup details: 15-Day Affirmation Challenge | 430 Participants!
- Affirmation Challenge Day 1 [New Beginning] | 62 Comments
- Affirmation Challenge Day 2 [Self-Love] | 63 Comments
- Affirmation Challenge Day 3 [Ability] | 42 Comments
- Affirmation Challenge Day 4 [Setbacks] | 21 Comments
For those of you already in the challenge, remember to share your results via the comments section for each day! We are having some amazing sharing and exchanges by participants Vivian, Jun Xiang, Samuel, ASLO, Alia, Lina, Calae, Chloe, VickiB, Jaleen, and many other participants, and I look forward to read more in the next two weeks. :D
Now, let’s move to today’s task, which is on…
Day 5: [Gratitude]
![Affirmation Wallpaper, [Gratitude]: "I'm grateful for everything in my life."](https://personalexcellence.co/files/affirmation-gratitude.jpg)
Today’s affirmation: “I’m grateful for everything in my life.”
Consider these statements we hear when things don’t go our way:
The weather sucks. I planned to go cycling but I can’t now because of the rain.
The bus/train is taking so long to arrive… why is the public transport here so bad??
I wish my partner is more organized/sensitive/understanding/caring/responsive/capable/<insert adjective here>.
My co-workers are such a pain in the behind. I’m so sick and tired of their bad attitudes.
So much work. Sigh. I wish I can have less work.
My housemate is so inconsiderate. She’s always leaving her dishes in the sink, without cleaning them. Why can’t I have a better housemate??
Recognize them? Have you said any of the above before, perhaps in your own way?
Well, I have. I sometimes crib about the weather, especially when it gets too hot in Singapore or when there are sudden downpours that make going out a hassle. I often grumble (to myself) about the public transport being late, even though I’ve traveled widely and I know that the public transport system in Singapore is easily one of the best in the world. I have grumbled before to Ken about him not being X or Y even though he is being the perfect man for me and I’m simply reacting from my issues (well, sometimes!).
Known as “complaints”, these statements are the expressions of our frustrations when things don’t go our way. Say we have an expectation of A, but the situation/thing/person we’re dealing with falls short in real life and gives us B instead. Depending on how big the gap is, we then respond with a level of angst that matches the size of that gap. The bigger the shortfall, the more frustrated and annoyed we become, and the more frequent and intense our complaint becomes.
Complaining is the opposite of gratitude, which is a feeling of appreciation of something. When you’re grateful, you see the goodness of everything — be it good or bad– and give thanks for them. If something is good, you recognize its goodness, relish in it, and celebrate it. If something is bad, you see the silver lining behind the dark cloud, recognize its goodness (where others can’t), relish in it, and celebrate it still. You recognize that life isn’t about having everything your way or only being happy when things are 100% in line with your vision, because these aren’t what life is about. You recognize that life is a journey where you celebrate all that you have now, feel perfectly happy about what you have and don’t have, all while working hard to achieve your grandest goals and dreams.
Last year August, I conducted a 14-day gratitude challenge which was a terrific success with over 200 people participating from all around the world. (In fact, many participants in our current affirmation challenge are alumni of the gratitude challenge!) During the gratitude challenge, we performed 14 tasks of gratitude over 14 days, just like how we are practising 15 affirmation tasks over 15 days right now.
Whether you did the gratitude challenge or not, gratitude isn’t something that you just practise for one day, 14 days, two months, or even two years and call it quits. Gratitude is something that you practise EVERY DAY, in every moment of your life. Because to forget about gratitude is to take your life and everything that you have today for granted, when all these things are GIFTS that you have been bestowed upon. Yes, your life today is a gift, whether you recognize it or not. (Many people have the belief that their life is an entitlement when so many have had their lives prematurely ended before their time.) Everything (and everyone) that’s in your life today is a gift. (Yes, including your current problems, because you could have far worse problems but you aren’t — or not now at least.)
Today your task is to embrace gratitude. Now, let’s get started!
Your Task Today
- Identify three things that you tend to take for granted. These can be anything, from planet Earth, to your parents, to your healthy body, to your home, to your life. (For ideas, read Gratitude Challenge Day 11: List 3 Things You Tend to Take For Granted.)
- Identify 10 things that you are grateful for in your life. Anything goes here — from people, to objects, to events, to life itself! If you think 10 is a lot, you’ll probably think otherwise by the time you identify your 10th item! (For ideas, read Gratitude Challenge Day 1: Write 10 Things You are Grateful For.)
- Identify ONE thing you can do TODAY to express gratitude to any one item on your list. For example:
- If you’re grateful for having food to eat and not living in a famine-stricken country, you can give thanks for your food.
- If you’re grateful for a loved one, you can write a gratitude note to him/her.
- If you’re grateful for the good service you get at a restaurant, you can give a bigger gratuity tip than usual.
- If you’re grateful for everything in general, you can do a gratitude meditation.
- Say today’s affirmation. Pause for a second. Think about everything you have in your life now, and don’t have yet. Appreciate them. Know that they are gifts in your life and there are people who want to have these things (yes, including your “problems,” simply because their problems are far worse), but can’t/don’t. With a heart full of gratitude, say today’s affirmation:
“I’m grateful for everything in my life.”
(If you think it’s silly to say this out loud, you can say it silently in your heart.)
I encourage you to write down today’s affirmation so that you can always see it and commit it to heart. Repeat them every day to yourself, for as many times and as long as needed, until they become part of your default thinking.
Affirmation Wallpaper: [Gratitude]
Today’s affirmation wallpaper, for download:
Download (right click and save): [1366×768] [1600×900] [1920×1080]
Further Reading
- For more on gratitude, check out the gratitude challenge and all its 14 tasks of gratitude: Gratitude Challenge Overview
- Complaining often comes hand in hand with impatience. Here’s my guide on how to be patient: How To Be Patient: The Only Guide I’ll Ever Write on Becoming Patient
- Last but not least, for those of you with Be a Better Me in 30 Days, be sure to review Day 28: A Complaint Free Day, where you practise a day of no complaints.
Share Your Results!
Share your results, check out other participants’ responses, and interact with each other in the comments section! Remember, this challenge is a community effort: by openly engaging in the discussion, not only will you help others, you’ll also help yourself.
If you think today’s affirmation has benefited you, do share it with your friends and family.
Once you’re done, proceed to Day 6 here: Affirmation Challenge, Day 6 [Self-Worth]
(Images: Flower, Flower field)
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3 things that I tend to take for granted are actually 5. My family, friends, gf, nature and present time.My list of stuff that I was grateful about ended up being really long!! o-o
My new empowering belief:
I am grateful for everything I have in the present time. I don’t want to live in another time. Just the one that I am now.
Action step:
Out of my list I decided to show gratefulness towards my family ( which is the thing that I usually complain about to others and to myself.) I decided to truly hear and listen to my older brother and converse with him.
http://zestychloe.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/day-5-gratitude-im-grateful-for-everything-in-my-life/
1. Identify three things that you tend to take for granted.
i. Definitely the people who love me. And they are usually the people I
love too. The categories of people who topped this list has to be my
family. They are always there for me. Well, not like they can choose to
not having me as their family member (haha), but they tend to be more
lenient towards me. I can show the ugliest side of myself with complete
assurance that they would just accept it and never turn their backs at
me (albeit with curses and swears). And I definitely owe them my life.
ii. The fact that I am alive and breathing. Most of us tend to wake up
every working morning, either dreading the day or cursing the day. Me,
for one, do not wake up jumping out of bed and celebrating another day’s
of life. Bad start of the day, eh?
iii. My health. Recently, my health started to sound the alarm, and I
was alarmed. Good health is one thing I always take for granted, and I
feed myself with rubbish food, sleep at ungodly hour only to be
sleep-derived the next morning and started the day with negativity, and
think I am young and healthy enough to not rely on regular exercise to
keep my good health. Argh. Am totally regretting my absurd teen years
now.
2. Identify 10 things that you are grateful for in your life.
i. My family. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. Period.
ii. Myself. I am thankful that I love myself. I am
thankful that I appreciate me. I am thankful for the eyes to see, the
nose to smell, the mouth to talk and eat, the ears to listen, the heart
to beat… you get the drift.
iii. My friends. They spice up my life, and we trust each other in times of crisis. I am thankful to have groups of trusted and close peers!
iv. My boyfriend. He has opened my eyes and mind on
financial blueprint and alot more things. I am thankful that he is a
loving and supportive man :)
v. The earth; the sun, the wind, the rain. I am so, so
thankful for the air to breathe, the beautiful place to reside, and so
many more to be grateful for. Thank you for having me here! Earlier this
year, for months we did not have a single drop of rain in Singapore. We
are a Garden City and I recalled how traumatised I have felt when I saw
the grasses and trees turn brown and wither, and how the soil cracked
from dryness. I was seriously overcome with sadness. And when it finally
rained, we rejoiced!
vi. My job. It is not my complete passion, but it opens
doors. I am a stronger person with greater resilience, and I am
extremely grateful for the chance to accept the challenge and grow
bigger than the obstacle. I felt accomplished and the more I uncover
unimaginable things about myself, the more I love me more.
vii. Singapore. I am thankful to be born in Singapore,
and not any where else where Education, clean water, a roof over my head
and plenty food on the table are luxuries and not mandatory.
viii. My passion to read and write. Reading has made up a huge and important part of my life in unimaginable ways. I feel thankful that I love to read.
ix. Future. I am thankful to have ideas on the directions which I can grow to become in the future.
x. Now. I am extremely thankful for Now. I am alive and breathing now and that is the most important thing to feel grateful for.
3. Identify ONE thing you can do TODAY to express gratitude to any one item on your list.
OK, instead of “today” (since now is close to 11.30pm), I shall list one thing which I am going to do “tomorrow”.
I am going to jump out of bed feeling grateful and elated and full of
energy instead of dragging my limp body out of bed! Hey, don’t judge me,
I think this is a HUGE challenge :D
4. Say today’s affirmation.
“I’m grateful for everything in my life.”
THANK YOU!
My Afterthoughts:
Gratitude is one very positive emotion which is incredibly important
to have and to practise in everyday life. If a person feels no
gratitude, not even the slightest in everyday life, this person is
basically a very, very unhappy person.
I am a happy person, yeah! :D
Oh – I was just reading the comments… technology! I am grateful for technology because it allows me to meet people around the world – even make friends with people of completely different backgrounds. Together, through our individual relationships, I hope that we can bring repair into the world and peace.
What do I take for granted? I have found that you take things for granted until they are taken from you. Like, my senses, the full use of my hands, living in security, stability.
What am I grateful for? that’s a long list. My health (when I have it), the fact that I have a husband who is trustworthy, food, beautiful surroundings, clothing (I love fashion), my children, a sense of humor, I am grateful for my capacity for kindness, I am grateful that I have access to a beach with a beautiful view, I am grateful for my financial security, I am grateful for my intellect, I am grateful for the ability to help others, I am grateful for the ablity to hear beautiful music and observe beautiful art – for the ablity to walk, for the ability to be a friend, for an ability to contribute to society by my participation in not-for-profit organizations that have helped other people, for my ability to learn, to teach and to write. Life. In general – I am grateful to have woken up this morning. I am grateful to those doctors who help me out when I do get sick. I am grateful for medication that generally helps me get well again so that I can go work out like crazy. When I am able to go to the gym, I am grateful that I have the ability to do good work as an athlete. I am grateful for all of my experiences in life that have enabled me to appreciate what I have and to realize that my truly imperfect husband is actually pretty incredibly amazing and my dream come true (see gratitude for children and home) and I am especially grateful for my aunt, who is always supportive and has taught me how to make others feel special – by setting the example by making me feel special.
One thing I can do today to show gratitude. I think that tonight I will thank my husband for our life together. I think he’ll really like that. Yeah. That’s gonna be really cool!
Affirmative Challenge Day5
Hi Celes,
Hello All,
This is an idea I have borrowed from you (Celestine); which I am going to own, read and use often:
“I will take more time to think about everything I have in my life now, and don’t have yet. I appreciate them. I realize now that they are gifts in my life and there are people who want to have these things (yes, including my “problems,” simply because their problems are far worse), but can’t/don’t. With a heart full of gratitude: “I’m grateful for everything in my life.” Incredible act of gratitude!!!
I am gratteful about my life, my health, my parents, my sister, my family (wife, daughter, sister-law living with us), my church, my education, my job, my host country, my home country, my friends, my colleagues, my neighbors, etc about all I have today; about all challenges I’ve gone through; all God and the universe have in store for me!
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