As we finally emerge bleary-eyed from Lockdown #3, I have been reflecting on this past year and what I have learnt throughout it all. No matter how I frame my thoughts, no matter how deep I dig when I look back on everything that I have been through, what the country has been through and what the world has been through, I keep coming back to a single concept: Gratitude.
I was reminded of this gratitude on 24th March, as the UK acknowledged a year since the first lockdown began and which is now known as the National Day of Reflection. As I took the one-minute silence at noon with most others throughout the country, I thought about all the people who had lost their lives over this last year and those who had not been able to say goodbye properly to a loved one. The banned hospital visits, the outlawed hugs, the enforced social distancing at a time when human instinct is screaming to reach out to the people you care for most in the world. I thought of these people and then these thoughts turned to feelings of guilt because the truth is, I haven’t really suffered over this past year. I haven’t lost someone to COVID, I haven’t been on the front line at all.
In comparison, I have been standing in the wings. While others have been out there working stupidly long hours, losing sleep and struggling to get by, I have been learning new things, checking in with friends, discovering more about myself, daydreaming of future possibilities and making sourdough. I have been able to work throughout the pandemic teaching singing online, something that I thought was impossible a year ago. The truth is, in many ways I have thrived during this pandemic. And you know what? So have many of my friends. That’s not to say that we all haven’t encountered challenges; everyone has had their wobbly days or suffered during this challenging time and most people can relate to that all oppressive feeling of being unable to go anywhere or do anything; the claustrophobia of being trapped in a house in the bleak mid-winter.
But throughout it all, I have witnessed the most incredible transformations. I have seen the tension of anxious workmates visibly melt away before my eyes as they take up running and reading and telling me about the inspiring podcasts they’ve been listening to. I have seen fellow performers move from a constant striving to achieve the seemingly impossible to a calm thriving as they stop, breathe and refocus their creative energies on more realistic projects. I have seen many friends re-train; expanding their minds to the possibility that another life awaits them, that all is not lost just because one creative door has closed.
Every time I hear that someone has turned a negative situation into something my heart is filled with joy. Before my very eyes, the people that I love have morphed from caterpillars into butterflies and I am right beside them, soaring through the sky, a million possibilities at my fingertips. And while I cannot completely relate to the hardship that many have endured, I can at least feel grateful for what I have. I can choose to focus on all the abundance in my life. So much is said about what we have lost during this past year, what the pandemic has taken from us. But what about everything we have gained? I know that everyone’s journey has been different; that many people have been hit financially as well as emotionally but no matter what the situation in our own lives, maybe we can find at least three things we can be grateful for every day?
I was listening to an Oprah Super Soul podcast the other day and she was talking to a scientist who had actually put gratitude to the test. They gathered together several 80-year-olds who not only registered as being highly pessimistic but also had pessimism in their genes (yes, it’s a thing!) For 21 days each person had to start the day by writing down three things they were grateful for. By the end of the 21 days, they were all tested and the result? They had transformed from high ranking pessimists to low ranking optimists.
I find these findings incredibly inspiring. Finally, science has proven what many of us know already; that your thoughts affect your emotions and your emotions affect your day and the days build into weeks which turn into years and this accumulates into your life. We have a choice in how we see the world and how we see the world becomes our truth. If you choose to only see the possibility of rain behind those fluffy white clouds you will have a very different experience to someone who sees the sun just hidden from view. Surely if science has proven that in only three weeks genetically pessimistic individuals can change their brain activity after 80 years of conditioning, anything is possible, right?
Our brains are incredibly obedient creatures and while it often feels like we cannot control our emotions completely, we can control our thoughts and these thoughts lead to choices and those choices become your life. The hardest and yet the most rewarding thing you can do when feeling down is to fill your mind with gratitude. It doesn’t mean that you’re ignoring the things that are making you sad or failing to acknowledge your emotions but it does mean that amid that turmoil you are choosing to focus on what is good in your life. In doing so, we can often stop ourselves from sinking further into the dark pit of despair.
Today I am thankful for my health, my home and the sunshine. But most importantly I am grateful for the time that I have to enjoy those things; the time to sit and write this post, the time to enjoy nature, the time to cook nourishing food, the time to talk to friends, the time to do what I love and teach others.
So now it’s your turn….what are YOU grateful for?
I for one would love to know.
Together we can start a gratitude revolution.
If you would like to share your thoughts on this subject, I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or SUBSCRIBE via email so you never miss a blog post or delicious recipe again!
Easy one to answer. I am of course grateful for the amazing family your mum and I ended up with.
🙂
What an amazing insight you have into life …thank you for sharing it with such positivity.
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂