You've heard every guru and coach harp on about Gratitude, as this Universal solution to any and all manifestation questions or concerns you might have, and while I can see and appreciate where they are coming from, I still have a bone to pick.
So if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, let me break down the positives and some possible traps of using Gratitude as this one-size-fits-all solution to manifesting whatever it is that you're manifesting.
On a face value, yeah, sure it's a no-brainer, of course gratitude is good for you. Of course, you should feel grateful for all the epic stuff that you've already managed to do and achieve. Especially if you're prone to default to more lower energies throughout the day, sure, take your time, sit down and feel that gratitude, it's a quick and simple boost to your energy.
HOWEVER..
Let's dig a bit deeper. Let's look at what the feeling of gratitude ACTUALLY means and why did I just call Gratitude the Trojan Horse of manifesting..
Say you did take the advice of 'feeling the gratitude' to heart and really focussed on it, making it the dominant feeling throughout your days, what you'd notice as an effect sooner or later would be this yo-yo-ing from these amazing times, events and synchronicities to getting into all sorts of pickles, finding your back against a wall more often than not and getting yourself into these uncomfortably tight situations where you wouldn't be sure if you'd make out of them this time.
A pattern like that might make for a good episode of a show, but would you really want to live your everyday day-to-day life like that? I mean if you do, more power to you, but I know for sure that that is not for me.
Now why would focusing on feeling gratitude create a pattern like that?
Because the feeling of gratitude implies a retroactive hardship that's overcome. And the bigger the feeling of gratitude the bigger the hardship that's overcome, so when you focus on it, you imply future hardships that will get you to your feeling of gratitude once overcome.
Yeah, but contrast is what makes the life worth living, Josie.
Yes, yes, I know, but from experience I can tell you that there IS such a thing as TOO much contrast. And diligently focusing on gratitude is one fast way to get to that place of too high of a highs and too low of a lows.
Do I have a better alternative to Gratitude then?
As a matter of fact I do - Appreciation.
See the subtle difference in the energy? Appreciation does not imply retroactive lack or hardship, you can appreciate things when they are going good and still keep finding more and more things, situations, people and circumstances to appreciate without 'the fall from grace', without getting yourself 'between a rock and a hard place'.
So try swapping gratitude for appreciation and watch how this simple shift brings in more ease and soft flow to your manifesting journey.
Sometimes on this path it really comes down to breaking down and dissecting energies to see in nuance if they really are compatible with the life that you're building for yourself, and not just taking some gurus word for it.
Experiment, have fun, and I'll catch you later.
~Josie~
hmmm. i've never really thought it there was a difference between "gratitude" and "appreciation," had thought they're just kinda synonymous.
as you've understood it, would the distinction here be something unto its own - or more just contextual, in the sense of "gratitude" being referred to how it commonly within the popularized 'manifestation' paradigm?
i'd guess it to be more the latter, given the context of this whole writing piece - though wonder if you've observed a distinction outside of it, unto its own no matter the context...
I'd say that it's the opposite, that the distinction is 'in truth' and that 'manifestation circles' tend to gloss over it and use them interchangeably.
If you think back to when you naturally felt genuine feelings of gratitude.. what was the context?
Something must have 'worked out in your favour', some disaster must have been averted.
Or let me paint another picture for you - one day me and mom were sitting on a porch, drinking coffee. The weather was perfect, warm sun shining, not a cloud in the sky, birds chirping, trees all green, brimming with life. Perfection. I was soaking it all up. Appreciating the moment for exactly what it was in the moment and mentioned to mom how much I love this kind of deep peace.
Mom on the other hand, running with the word peace, expressed Gratitude. She was perceiving that moment in contrast to the war in Ukraine. And that emotion carried with it a lot more baggage, like how she's the lucky one and how things could have been different and even a tinge of survivor's guilt.
So what I mean to say is that the distinction is in the energy, in the emotion and the context in which that feeling naturally arises..
if that makes more sense.
~Josie~
it does. 💙
Ok, thought of sharing this came last night as in bed… I think I kinda get it better now, via observation of direct experience…
So there’s been some pretty deep emotional waves lately (with mind tempted to think “depression”)… and I observed this very clear distinction of one’s end yesterday. Previous day, hot damn those lows… then yesterday, though there was some muck to trek through first, came the fresh breath of relief - not a polarity of extreme as a peak or positive spike, but just more a sorta neutral clarity as recognizing that the low of the prior day’s wave had passed. And there, was the choice/distinction point you wrote of…
Like, the presence to appreciate the moment for what it was (which also included an appreciation for the whole wave, its experience & lessons, etc)… or that option to frame it via the “gratitude” outlook, as though more like “omg thank God that’s over now.” Definitely quite subtle & nuanced, but for sure different.
And putting this into writing now feels to be evoking yet more clarity on how that appreciation frequency is really one that is much more of/in the present moment - here & now. Whereas the gratitude option still had/has that one foot in the past (in a way that’s not complete with full, neutral acceptance - versus the appreciation potentially still acknowledging the past, but more with an energy of honorance of it).
Surely, there are an indefinite amount of examples, and everyone’s experience different - could see where it becomes a matter of semantics in some cases, with people saying “gratitude” for what you meant by “appreciation” at times; though this one yesterday helped me grasp the essence of your perspective better.
Much appreciate you sharing it. ☺️💖
Ah, yes! ^^ Nice to hear that. The nuances can get really subtle, but they're there and in this case, I'd say they are worth noticing. Sometimes it gets down to fine-tuning those little details that end up shifting the whole course in the long run.
(Big Ol' digital bear hug to you)
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