Every week, Oprah is setting an intention exclusively for Oprah Daily Insiders, with reflections on topics like letting go, forgiveness, coming into your own, and more.
I hope you’re somewhere where the leaves have started turning. As you can see, we don’t get much of a leaf change around here in California. But if you look really closely, the acorns are ready to fall from the oaks. Wherever you are, I hope you’re appreciating the change in season.
I wanted to share with you my most cherished spiritual practice, and that is gratitude. You know, I’ve made it an actual practice since the ’90s, when I first interviewed Sarah Ban Breathnach, who had written Simple Abundance. That book changed the way I viewed life in general. I’ve been a convert ever since, with volumes of gratitude journals documenting everything from savoring a raspberry sorbet, to the color of a maple changing, to a three-dog night, when all the dogs are snuggled in bed. I still write down five things I’m grateful for every day.
If it feels redundant, this is what I want to tell you—you have to be specific. Not “I’m just grateful for my health,” but “I’m grateful that the sore throat that I had wasn’t Covid.” I’m grateful that I had knee surgery and can now hike higher and faster and longer than ever before. I’m grateful not just for every breath, but I’m grateful for sinus rhythm. Here’s what I’ve learned—it’s through the worst of times that this practice of gratitude is most impactful. Of course you’re grateful when things are going the way you want them to. It’s during the worst of times that you need the insight to recognize your own simple abundance and to have the faith in knowing that energy is constantly changing. Your own vibrational current changes when you focus on what you have instead of what you don’t.
I consider gratitude to be a major force field in establishing a better life. It’s the foundation from which all other blessings flow, and I want that for you, too. Something that is constantly unfolding goodness and mercy through your life is gratitude. Let’s talk about how to make that so. Join me this Tuesday, 7 p.m. Eastern, for a live conversation with Dr. Scott Kaufman and 12 of your fellow Insiders, talking about how living in a space of gratitude brings you constant grace and how gratitude literally changes how you see the world and how the world sees you. That’s Tuesday, October 11th, at 7 p.m. If you’re busy, you can view it later.
Until then, know that I continue to be grateful for your comments, for your insights, for your shared support of each other and what this community of well-intentioned humans means for our times. Every piece of light we can shine matters, and I’m grateful for your willingness to keep shining.
Go well.
Source: Oprahdaily.com
