Last week I shared a quick and easy activity (using five fingers) to help you in your practice of daily gratitude. Using this strategy also aids in bringing your focus back to productivity, when your thoughts begin to veer off in a negative direction. If you missed it, check it out HERE.

Today I’ll offer one more concept to assist in manifesting gratitude, when difficulties arise and feeling grateful becomes a bit more taxing.


Everyone faces fear in various stages of life.

Fear of making the wrong decision.
Fear of looking unprepared.
Fear of people “finding out” you’re not as worthy as they think you are. 
Fear of not being able to provide for your family should you take on a new risk or challenge.
Fear of hurting someone by expressing your own truth.
Fear you’re never going to feel true happiness (again).
Fear of being alone, being unknown, being too old, being too young, being devalued, being unneeded etc…



When we find ourselves in a state of fear and anxiety, it’s difficult to practice gratitude. In his book, What Happy People Know, Dr. Dan Baker argues that you can’t be in a state of gratitude & appreciation and fear at the same time. It’s really one emotion or the other. 

Therefore, if we want to practice more gratitude and appreciation AND we want to acknowledge that we may also be in a space that makes this difficult, what CAN WE DO?!?!


FOCUS ON THE NEXT POSITIVE STEP



Facing uncertain situations can stop us dead in our tracks and leave us frozen with fear. We can either stay stuck in that place, or we can gently remove our attention from what is HAPPENING and focus on – OUR NEXT STEP – on what is POSSIBLE NOW.

What is the NEXT positive step?

Answering this question breaks the cycle of fear-paralysis-inactivity, fear-paralysis-inactivity…

When action is taken (even the smallest of actions) we experience an emotional shift. Action creates emotion. 

When we are moving forward, even if we don’t know what the end result of any of the above fears will be, we can create, in ourselves, an appreciation for having at least made one decision, setting us on a path to recognizing gratitude, for at the very least, having moved one STEP further away from fear.