In recent years, I have developed a daily practice around gratitude. It has been instrumental in reorienting myself from ‘I want’ and not-enoughness toward abundance. I have never been more thankful for my many blessings, and the more I acknowledge, the more I discover!

Now I’ve dropped into a deeper layer of gratitude. Appreciation is gratitude in action. How quickly I have felt that each day and then resumed my daily life, not quite turning it off, but not focusing there for too long, either. That’s like rushing through dessert and barely tasting the sweetness of life! Appreciation is nurturing, enjoying, savoring, and experiencing in our core the richness of life! Recognizing this led me to ask myself why I would miss the sweetest part?

I am breathing through this still raw place in myself to write this. I feel layers of not-enoughness and lifetimes of conditioning continuing to melt away. Reaching a deeper level of self-care and self love, I choose to embrace a deeper sense of receiving abundance and squirm through the uncomfortable moments. I am enough and so much more! I deserve the happiness and love that come with the receiving side of gratitude. And the deep love that comes when I myself then give from that deepest place of abundance and love. Pssstt…you deserve it, too!

Gratitude as thankfulness is a great beginning in pivoting from not-enoughness. Appreciation is then immersing ourselves into the loving generosity of Source, the Universe, ourselves, and all those in our lives. Embodying that, all else melts away.

Today is Mother’s Day here in the United States, and what a perfect day to embody appreciation! I feel the love of my birth mother in giving me up for adoption, and her sacrifices. I feel the love and sacrifices of my adopted mother in raising me. I feel the love of the other mothers I have known along my journey who have given of their hearts and lives to me. I feel the love and sacrifices of Mother Earth in sustaining me and all life on this bouncing ball in space. I feel the love of the mother within as I nurture myself and learn to accept and love myself more deeply and completely. Thank you Father/Mother God for helping me experience this deeper level of love.

Appreciation Reflections: Since what we focus on expands, it follows that what we appreciate appreciates in value! Where in your life can you breathe even more of your blessings into your heart to treasure, nurture, and appreciate them at a new level? Enjoy the sweetness dear heart and Happy Mother’s Day!