Welcome to Episode 21 of the Unlock Your Life podcast. I’m your host Lori Harris. Let’s get it going.

Welcome to the Unlock Your Life podcast, a podcast for highly successful visionary women who want more out of life. If you feel that ache of unfulfillment in your soul, you’re in the right place, sis. Join life mastery consultant Lori A. Harris as she teaches you how to stop living for others and finally put yourself first. Let’s dive into today’s show.

So, let’s celebrate in this season of reflection. I’m recording this a week out from Thanksgiving Day, and this recording will be released on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. And I love this time of year because we’re coming around the corner. We’re closing out a season. And we start that closeout time—that closeout period, with reflection. It’s a great time to reflect, remember, and remind ourselves of what we have to be grateful for.

That is what’s happening at this time of the year. It’s my favorite time of the year. So, this week I am going to invite you to engage in an experiment. And experiment in gratitude such that I suspect that if you fully commit and fully participate, it will be transformative, a life-changing exercise that you will want to continue.

When we talk about gratitude, there are three levels of gratitude. The first level is the gratitude in. I- N. And it’s grounded in a kind of if/when thinking. It’s very condition-based. So, if something happens, then I feel grateful. When something happens, then I allow myself to be grateful. It is reactive rather than generative. And it’s extremely condition-based.

So, there’s three levels of gratitude, gratitude based on if and when is the lowest form of gratitude. And all forms of gratitude are great. There are three levels, and any form of gratitude is better than in gratitude. But if/when gratitude, conditioned-based gratitude is at first level, the lowest level of gratitude, and we want to move up the spiral. So, we keep going.

Our next form of gratitude, gratitude form number two, is gratitude for, F- O-R. It’s a more expansive form of gratitude. It still has a bit of attachment to it. It’s an attachment to form. It’s an attachment to experience. It’s the phase one of developing a generative gratitude. It’s not bad, but it still is somewhat condition-based. So, you look for what is happening, and it’s a form of natural appreciation. There’s a trigger you appreciate and express gratitude for. That’s number two.

The greatest and the most empowering form of gratitude is number three. Gratitude in, and that’s a generative form of gratitude. And that form of gratitude is more expansive. It allows us to experience a greater sense of wonder and awe in the world because it reminds us of being grateful, regardless of circumstances, regardless of situations.

In all things, be grateful. In whatever condition I am in, find a place to be grateful. So, considerate. We have the disciple, Paul. He’s imprisoned in a Roman prison. And even though we know today, the prison is a difficult place to be, particularly here in the United States and many other places in the world. A Roman prison in ancient times was even more difficult. Picture filth, vermin, tainted food, tainted water, being surrounded by vermin and disease. And in this place, we hear the disciple Paul say, in all things, be grateful.

So, there is a power. There is a liberation in developing the skill to generate gratitude, regardless of outside circumstances. It gives us authority over our life. It frees us up from waiting for conditions to change. And when we live a life in gratitude, we are dealing with one of the greatest forms of currency there is. It’s generative, and when we are in harmony with it, we generate a life that we absolutely love living.

Because we are not waiting for something else to change, we are not waiting for conditions. We are generating good thoughts. We’re generating a vision, and we’re taking action from that vision. So, regardless of conditions, we generate gratitude. No matter what happens, we decide to let gratitude be the dominant thought of our consciousness. And in so doing, we create the power to change. The power to change our circumstances is unleashed. And matter changes and is plastic to our thinking. And so, when we can be grateful in our thoughts, we can generate a life that we absolutely love living. And so, we know that growth comes when we look for the good.

We look for the good when it isn’t easy. We align with the power and conditions and decide who we are going to be and how we are going to show up? And so, we think things into existence. Before we can see, we get in tune with it and an alignment with them. And we create a transformative life. And so, we have an opportunity to praise, regardless of circumstance. How can we be generative in our gratitude? We can think thoughts of gratitude. We can look for places to express gratitude in our daily lives.

Whether it is at the coffee shop or the fast-food place we are rolling through. We can look someone in the eye and express our gratitude. So, when we are doing that, we want to be specific. It’s more than, oh, thank you so much. We can raise the level of energy in any given situation or space by looking at the word praise. Contained within the word praise is raise. So, let’s raise the vibration.

And how do you do that with your gratitude? When you allow yourself to express thanks, be specific? So, perhaps you’ve gone to your local coffee shop, and you encounter the barista, and you allow yourself to really appreciate all that went into creating this really gorgeous cup of coffee for you. Think about the soil, seeds, and those who toiled and tilled the soil and then harvested the beans that created your coffee. The people who roasted and imported and brought your coffee to the coffee shop. The water that produced and heated and was transformed from one phase to a phase changed to boiling, creating something new when introduced to your coffee.

Then, there is the barista—the person on the other side of the counter. Consider the effort and care that went into creating this cup of coffee. Did you get some milk added to it? Did they add a little design to the foam that was created? Allow yourself to really enjoy this hot delicious frothy cup of coffee. And then look this person in the eye and tell them what you appreciate about them. Thank you for having such a positive attitude. Thank you for always greeting me with a smile. Thank you for looking me in the eye. Thank you for all the care you put into making this coffee shop a joy to come into. Thank you. Look them in the eye, be specific, and express your gratitude.

Consider the work you’ve done, the person you are being, the things you are working on, praise, raise your own consciousness within yourself, and tell yourself good job. I am proud of you for keeping on top of it, for making the steps, making progress, making the effort, and staying on top of your game. I am proud of you and allow yourself to feel that sense of accomplishment and thanksgiving within yourself.

Here is an opportunity for you at this moment to celebrate gratitude. I invite you at this moment to consider one person in your life. Think about who they are, how they show up for you. And what is one quality that you love and appreciate about them? Allow that thought to rise up within you. Think about this person and send grateful thoughts to them.

Second opportunity, think of an experience that you have had recently. Allow yourself to go to that place, mentally in your mind. Allow yourself to be in the moment and think of what was it about that experience? What was it about that location that helped you to feel really grateful? And then, for your final exercise for a grateful moment, think of something you have recently experienced that awakened a sense of awe and wonder within you. Remember that moment. What was it about it that awakened awe? What was it about it that opened your heart to a new experience? Allow yourself to really conjure and appreciate that moment.

Now, I am going to invite you to join me in a gratitude experiment. This is a gratitude challenge. For the next seven days, I invite you to practice radical gratitude. Know that each day you awaken, remember there is someone who didn’t wake up. And through no power of your own, your heart continues to beat. Your lungs continue to expand. Your eyes continue to do the work that they are doing. Allow yourself to really appreciate and experience radical gratitude.

In every life, there’s going to be some things that we would prefer not to do. We would prefer not to experience it. We would prefer that it just didn’t happen. I invite you to look for the good even those situations. When you encounter something that you doggone, just didn’t want to happen, and look for the good. Look for the growth. Look for the seed of possibility and potential. Allow it to be expressed. And allow yourself to remember that you can have a situation without having that situation take over your life and tell you who you are going to be.

For the next seven days, I invite you to join me in an experiment. Let’s amplify gratitude. For the next seven days each night, think of five separate, new, and different things to write in a gratitude journal. Get a fresh piece of paper, a fresh place to record, and make the experience new for yourself. Name it, name your gratitude for it and write it with specificity. Write five things for the next seven days, and at the end of the seven days, you will have 35 brand new, never before experienced, and appreciated opportunities. Write them down and go beyond the surface. Really dig deep within yourself to allow yourself to really feel what you are appreciating in this moment.

Then in each morning, choose gratitude. In all the conditions that you find yourself decide to be grateful. Ask yourself what can I be grateful for in this moment? And at this moment, right now, as this podcast is coming to an end, ask yourself three questions. Will I actually participate in the seven-day experiment, the seven-day challenge? Will you commit? Will you commit to this opportunity for growth and expansion? If the answer is yes, what time will you do it? What time in the morning, what time in the evening will you intentionally practice gratitude?

And finally, what activity can you link it to that you can remember? Oh, when I do X, this is when I appreciate and express my gratitude and write it down. Whenever I suggest something to you, I’m never asking you to do something that I’m not actually doing myself. So, I am going to join you on a seven-day gratitude experiment and experience. What time will I do it? I will do it each evening between 10:30 and 11 before I go to bed. I will write and express five moments of gratitude. And in the morning, when I rise, I will express my gratitude, yet again, before I put my feet on the floor. And what I will link it to is the pillows on my bed.

I love my bed. I think it is beautiful. And I have all these very decorative pillows on them. So, when I remove my pillows in the evening, I will allow myself to be reminded that I am going to practice gratitude by writing in my gratitude journal. In the morning, before I put my feet on the floor, when I rise, wake up, and look at the ceiling, I will be triggered by looking at the ceiling light and remind myself of practicing my gratitude.

When we are building a new habit, it’s great to have it with specificity to connect it to its specific time and place and to connect it with an activity that we are already going to do. So that we can build that habit and create a chain reaction. This has been Unlock Your Life podcast, episode #21. It is November 2021, and we are celebrating and rejoicing at the end of this year. This is a time of reflection. We are reflecting on who we have been and who we want to be as we go into the New Year. As we go, we’re reminded that gratitude is the currency of abundance. We cannot generate more until we are grateful for the experience that we are having. We are grateful in the moment that we are in. We’re not trying to get somewhere else. We appreciate where we find ourselves right now. We are reminded to practice gratitude and generate gratitude in regardless of situations.

I have a friend who suffered a huge loss. When she lost her baby boy, and I recall and was moved that she was still able to practice gratitude at the time of his death. She was grateful for the son that he was, for the joy that he brought to her life, and finally, even in her darkest moment, she was able to say, I am so grateful that as he died that he did not harm anyone else with the activity that caused his death. I am so grateful he didn’t hurt anyone else. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that, as an organ donor, he continues to give life and possibility to someone else. And so, even in her darkest moment, she was able to find some moment of gratitude.

So, as the yin and the yang look on the white side, there is a dot. On the dark side, there is a dot. Within every experience, some good can be located if we are only willing to just look for it. I invite you to do this, as well.

This has been Unlock Your Life podcast, and I’m your host, Lori Harris. If you have enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. I would love it if you would go to Apple Podcasts, follow, and rate the show. As you leave a review, it helps us to grow our audience. Thank you for listening; it’s your life. Make it a great one.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Unlock Your Life podcast. If you want more information on how you can transform your life and do it quickly, visit loriaharris.com. See it on the next episode of the Unlock Your Life podcast.