01 Oct Pink Spoons
Last week I had an awareness that I wanted to share today. On Wednesday, after dinner, me and my daughter went to a local ice cream shop in our neighborhood to pick up some dessert. As we were leaving with our ice cream, we noticed a couple approaching the ice cream shop. As I held the door open for them to enter, we overheard them laughing about the fact that the door handle of the establishment was a pink spoon. It seemed as though that was the most amazing thing that they’ve seen in quite a while.
As we got into the vehicle, my daughter looked at me and asked if I heard their conversation. I took that moment to share with my daughter that I was envious of their excitement. I told her that I wish I could get excited over a door handle. We laughed at first, and then we had a more serious discussion about my feelings and the methods available for positive change.
The awareness, and the opportunity for growth, is that gratitude is a practice not an emotion. I once heard Brene Brown say that “Joy doesn’t bring gratitude, but rather, gratitude brings us joy.” I shared with my daughter that pessimism, cynicism and negativity do not benefit me when looking for what I want. In this awareness, my outcome is to find more joy in the everyday things. That’s where gratitude is a resource for me to achieve my goal.
I have a journal to be filled out every day. One of the aspects of the journal is to acknowledge five things that I am grateful for that day. I soon found that it was difficult for me to list all five, day after day, in large part because I did not win the lottery or have a child born every day! What ended up happening was I found little things around me that I had previously taken for granted. I am grateful for my dogs panting smile, my dishwasher, laughing kids heard from the school across the street and the convenience of air travel. These recognitions sparked the desire to find more throughout the day for tomorrow’s journal. That’s called practice.
Everyone has room for more joy in their life. Join me in making gratitude a routine practice, and soon we will notice more and more pink spoons all around us. Choose joy!!
Dominic Oaxaca, Leadership Strategist/Trainer, High5 Leadership