Going All In Gratitude Challenge

OVERVIEW

Some time during Social Isolation…aka Quarantine…I picked up the book The Magic (The Secret Book 3) by Rhonda Byrne.

I was feeling pretty down and desperate and scared.

I had no idea what this COVID-19 meant for my health, my family’s health, or for my business.

I was searching for answers and something to cling to.

I am not sure where I heard about this book, but I felt a HUGE tug to get it. The idea behind the book is that gratitude is the secret sauce to a magical life. Byrne claims that following the “steps” in this book will produce “magical” results.

I did it for a couple of days, but as my fears subsided–as my family stayed healthy and my business hung in there–, I lost that feeling of desperation and my actions waned.

For some reason, though, I picked that book up again today. And as I was rereading the first few pages, I found myself in disbelief. The first chapter is called “Bring The Magic into Your Life.”

Byrne writes, “No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what your current circumstances, the magic of gratitude will change your entire life!”

She goes on to say,

“Gratitude can magically turn your relationships into joyful and meaningful relationships, no matter what state they are in now. Gratitude can miraculously make you more prosperous so that you have the money you need to do the things you want to do. It will increase your health and bring a level of happiness beyond what you’ve ever felt before. Gratitude will work its magic to accelerate your career, increase successes, and bring about your dream job or whatever it is you want to do. In fact, whatever it is that you want to be, do, or have, gratitude is the way to receive it. The magical power of gratitude turns your life into gold!

As you practice gratitude, you will understand why particular things in your life may have gone wrong, and why certain things might be missing from your life. As you make gratitude a way of life, you will wake up each morning so excited to be alive. You will find yourself completely in love with life. Everything will seem effortless. You will feel as light as a feather and happier than you’ve ever felt before. While challenges may come, you will know how to overcome them and learn from them. Every day will be magical; every day will be filled with far more magic than when you were a child.”

She makes quite a bold promise, and I found myself feeling a mix of feelings.

1. I thought, “Yeah right. This is a bunch of woo-woo horse poop. This might work for others, but it won’t work for me. I am not one of the lucky ones” (<—and just for the record, I do recognize that as a limiting belief I have).
2. I thought, “But what if this does work?”
3. I thought, “I want a magical life!”
4. I thought, “I wonder what would happen if I just went all in on this and fully embraced this idea…I mean, I can’t really lose anything. And it’s just 28 days. What if my life COULD really change in just 28 days???”
5. And then I thought, “But who would believe me? People would think I’m just spouting woo-woo horse poop like she does…”
6. And BAM!! I thought, “I know! I’ll document it on my blog!!! I’ve been wanting to blog again…I’ve been asking for inspiration…maybe this is it?!”

For the next 28 days, I am going to document my gratitude experiment. I am going all in, balls-to-the-wall, no-holds-barred. I am buying this idea that a gratitude practice will magically change my life hook, line, and sinker (and any other euphemism I can conjure up).

THE MAGIC WORDS

“Ancient myths and legends say that to bring forth magic a person must first say ‘the magic words.’ Bringing forth magic from gratitude works in the same way, and fir you must say the magic words: thank you….To live in gratitude, to experience the magic in your life, thank you must become the two words you deliberately say and feel more than any other words. They need to become your identity. Thank you is the bridge from where you are now, to the life of your dreams.

THE MAGIC FORMULA

1. Deliberately think and say the magic words, thank you.
2. The more you deliberately think and say the magic words, thank you, the more gratitude you feel.
3. The more gratitude you deliberately think and feel, the more abundance you receive.

“If you increase your feeling of gratitude, the results in your life will expand to be equal to your feeling! The truer the feeling, the more sincerely grateful you are, the faster your life will change….If you practice gratitude a little, your life will change a little. If you practice gratitude a lot every day, your life will change dramatically and in ways that you can hardly imagine.”

Challenge accepted. Game on. Let’s do this.