The 7 Rituals: Number 4

Jun 08, 2022

Days filled with stress, anxiety, and worry separate us from the harmony required to live out our Ikigai.

Here are seven rituals of calmness that you can practice to help bring more harmony into your day.

In this ongoing series, I will list all seven and detail each in this and subsequent posts.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life were, “thank you,” that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

Let’s look at five simple ways to incorporate gratitude into your life.

Start each day with one minute of gratitude reflection. Nothing complicated, think of three things you are grateful for today.
When you’re having a hard day make a gratitude list. Take a moment to recall the good things in your life and release the bad.
Respond with gratitude. In prior rituals, we learned to notice our reactions and release judgment. These combine well with Ritual 4. When we experience something frustrating, become aware of our reaction, release judgment, and let our response be gratitude.
When you face a major challenge, be grateful for it. Look for the learning that could come as a result.
Look at what you have and not what you don’t. It is easy to see people around us who have more and yet, an average person living a middle-class life has more riches than kings of old. A friend of mine would answer a ‘how are you?’ greeting with “better than most.” She was right. We are healthier, face fewer catastrophes, and live longer today than any generation before us.

Living into your Ikigai, simply being your real and authentic self becomes a profound act of giving thanks.

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