The 1 Mental Health Tool to Rule Them All — the Gratitude Bomb

It’s true. There is one tool that makes everything else work.

It’s explosive, but it’s not destructive.

Gratitude.

How do we get in gratitude? 

How do we stay in gratitude?

By practice.

The best way I know to practice anything, from my perspective with: 

1. a lifetime of classical training on musical instruments,

2. 20 years of yoga practice,

3. 5+ years of kundalini yoga practice,

4. 20+ years of unrecognizable mental health challenges from a traumatic brain injury,

5. traumatized genetics, is…

to…

Set a timer (the one on your phone is voice activated!) for 90 seconds or 120 seconds if you have extra time and want the extra practice, and put yourself on the spot to recognize as many things to be grateful for as possible. 

What can you be grateful for? 

You might be grateful for something significant, and you might be grateful for something society tells you is empty, meaningless, superficial. But it’s not empty for you.

Your unique perspective discovers gratitude in it and from it. It makes magic happen.

The thing is, without the focused intensity created by the time container, you might not have recognized your gratitude in that something. You might have overanalyzed it and invalidated it, like a 7th grader stuck on math problem number 3 of 30, never getting to the rest of the work.

That’s mental laziness.

Slow down and breathe. There’s nowhere to be but here, now.

This One Mental Health Tool to Rule Them All builds self-awareness, a co-creative relationship with universal consciousness, and self-confidence. It enhances time management.

We create what we focus on, and focusing on things to be grateful for brings us more things to be grateful for.

It shows consciousness that you’re paying attention. That you’re willing to be a good teammate in creating the world.

So, try it. 

Set your timer for 90 seconds. Ramble off as many things to be grateful for as you can, whether it’s the lights, the bird songs, or just the fact that your eyes and brain are able to read these words on your digital light panel.

There are infinite things to be grateful for when we open our mind to recognizing them.

But don’t stop there! 

Just like practicing any skill, the first time is usually the worst. Take the pressure off; try it again later. Try it with your friends and loved ones by trading gratitudes back and forth. You never know what gratitudes your friends and loved ones might come up with that could add to and amplify your gratitude!

So, set your timer now, and do the work.

It’s only 90 seconds; besides, commercials take longer than that.

Be Brave — you got this.

After you’ve tried it, let me know how your experience was; and then — try it again!