Grateful For What You Don’t Yet Have

We all know showing gratitude is an important part of bringing more happiness and freedom into our lives. I think that message is pretty clear. But I got to thinking (and reading) about it recently and developed a new hypothesis around the way we can understand and apply gratitude to our own lives.

We talk a lot about being grateful for what we have in life. Important, yes.

But what about the idea of being grateful for what you don’t yet have in life? Actually, to rephrase that, FEELING grateful for what you don’t yet have in life BEFORE you have it.

The beauty of this idea is I truly believe we all know what’s good for us and what we want in life; whether it’s health, love, happiness, success, money etc. 

But we aren’t able to fully grasp it because our systems are familiar with the default setting - a chronic state of fear, frustration, and a sense of lack for what we desire. 

And because any change to the nervous system (whether positive or negative) is stress, your body and mind will resist with all its might to maintain the status quo, even though you know what’s beyond that threshold is a better life.

So you stay stuck (I’m speaking to myself here based on a lot of past experience) and wonder why you can’t receive it.

But when you give thanks, it’s because you’ve received something. You already have it. That positive state triggers a cascade of feel good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. All of which enable you to step out of that chronic state of survival mode and into a state of thriving.

So, if that’s the case, feeling grateful for something you don’t yet have - like optimal health, a loving partner, a career full of purpose and passion -  before you have it would still trigger that same brain chemistry, grow those new neurons, make those new neural connections and create the same internal state as it would having it externally.

And a Little secret about the subconscious mind, because it has no access to the outside world without your senses (i.e. what you’re seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling), if you can vividly activate those five senses before actually experiencing them, another nod to how powerful our minds really are, your brain doesn’t know the difference between what’s “real” and imagined. 

Think about that for a second.

Pablo Picasso once said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” And that really hit me, even though I didn’t understand what he fully meant at the time. 

Picasso knew how to access and utilize the power of imagination like any true artist. But what Picasso was really accessing, is a state of receiving before creating. 

A state of complete gratitude for what’s to come.

Love always,

Nicole

Embodying true self-love is just one of the leading philosophies behind my signature Self by Design Method. Self-love is the foundation for which all other relationships in our lives flow.

If you're a conscious entrepreneur, leader, or coach (or aspiring one!) ready for the next level of expansion send me a message or Book a Mindset Shift Call with me and let's get to redesigning.