How Gratitude Transformed My Mindset and Life

I remember what it was like stuck in the darkness. To have something that would trigger me to the point I was stuck in a negative mindset. A mindset that would make me see only the bad things. You know the one where it’s a bad morning, that turns into a bad week, month, year, life! Have you ever had that feeling of stuck? Stuck in a way nothing seems to bring light or joy in your “bad day”? That was me. 

My husband used to tell me I would get stuck in the negative. He’d tell me to flip it like a light switch and I’d always response with ‘it doesn’t work like that!’ My husband had experienced a life altering experience in 2009.  This changed a lot for him. He was diagnosed with a grade three Astrocytoma, brain cancer. He once told me he had to come to terms with his death when he was 30. After a long battle to get surgery, he had to learn to walk and talk again. 

When you are faced with something heavy like this in life often you grow through it and become grateful for things like the ability to walk. When my husband was so hard on me for being ‘negative’ it was because he had grown through an experience that makes you rethink what a bad day really is. You start to see things in a different way and start to give up hold to other things that just don’t need your energy in the grand scheme of life. 

In 2020, before the pandemic hit, I finally got to a point in my life where I had enough of the darkness and the quicksand of the negative life. Or maybe it was enough of my husband telling me to flip a light switch. At this point I can’t really tell you either way lol What I can tell you is I fought for change. 

I started to put in the work. I started a gratitude practice. You know the ones that everyone always talks about ‘wake up and think of 3 things your grateful for’ or ‘just think about things that your grateful for when you are overwhelmed’. Not going to lie it was NOT easy for me starting out. 

I struggled to find one thing a day. That’s how much the darkness had ahold on me. That’s how deep I was in the quicksand of negativity. I wanted a better life for me and a better mind set. I didn’t want to be stuck in the negative anymore. So, I kept trying. I started to think of one thing a day. Over time I challenged myself to not repeat something. Sure, in the cold weather it was easy to be grateful for my auto start or seat warms in my car. Butttt I needed to grow. I was doing this to be better. Just like working out and learning-you only cheat yourself if you cut corners. My life, my future, was not worth cutting corners.

Over time it became easier. I was able to get to my three things a day. I then decided I would take it another step. Instead of doing my gratitude list at the end of the day, I wanted to do it at the beginning of the next day. That way I was starting my day reminiscing on the good or the light from the day before. I also stopped using the language of ‘bad’. Instead, I would say ‘weird’. For example, I wouldn’t say ‘wow I’m having a bad morning’ I would instead say ‘well it’s been a weird morning’. 

Language is so powerful so is what we say between our two ears. Changing you mind take time. I am so grateful for the time I put into changing my brain before I even know how bad I would need it. That’s why I published two gratitude journals. 

52 weeks to train your brain *Link to the journal*

The gratitude growth journal *Link to the journal*

By taking the time to train my brain to focus on the light, I started to take away the power the darkness had over me. I started to release and focus in. I trained my brain, and you can too. 

If you could use an encouraging space to grow Join Me in Gratitude of Growth challenge *Link* (https://www.facebook.com/share/g/Z1hh9nMgzN1pXAwG/) to change your brain and seek the light. 

With love and light,

Jessica-Rose