I'm deeply appreciative of everything now, but I wasn't always this way.
In fact, for years I was entitled, ungrateful, and ignorant of the beauty and abundance flowing in the world and the economy.
But at the time, if anyone asked me, I would've sworn I was a kind, 'grateful' person. I couldn't possibly admit that I was emo AF, and not really very grateful for much.
Instead, I was bitter, angsty, and thought I was better than everyone... and it landed me nothing but years of homelessness on the cold streets of Toronto.
This period of my life snapped me out of my conceit and entitlement and brought me back to gratitude...
Because when you have 'nothing,' it makes you start to appreciate every. little. thing.
Found shelter during a storm that doesn't cost money? It feels like a miracle and you're so grateful for it.
Was able to sleep through a winter night without a security guard kicking you off a bench? Another miracle and you appreciate it like nobody's business.
Discovered that you can soothe tooth pain with a rock-salt gargle? It's literally heaven, and you're thankful beyond all reason.
Hitting rock-bottom isn't the only way to tap into gratitude, but it was my path, and it helped me a lot. I began to be grateful for everything. Every piece of furniture someone manufactured for me to use. Every piece of content I got to use to entertain or educate myself. Instead of taking the mountains of furniture in my city, or the mountains of free content on the internet for granted, I became deeply appreciative of them, and many other things.
And this deeper-than-usual appreciation was a big part of my manifesting a better life for myself.
I guess I didn't need to write all this to point out that 'gratitude is powerful', because most people in Law Of Attraction circles already know this.
But I wrote it because it highlights something many people actually don't realize...
Namely, that there are levels of gratitude.
And that even 'smart' people can be blind to the level of gratitude they're bringing to life.
Ultimately, if you're not getting the results you want in life, it's probably worth checking on your gratitude levels. I mean really, truly taking an honest look at how grateful you are for the incredible amount of abundance around you. The earth, the city, humanity is full of opportunity and blessings flowing all around each of us, but most people either complain about flaws, don't see it at all, or only pay lip-service gratitude to it.
So, to help us understand gratitude better, I'll divide the spectrum of gratitude into four levels:
- Contentment
- Thankfulness
- Appreciation
- 'Future' Gratitude
CONTENTMENT is what the vast majority of society thinks of as gratitude. It's the shallow 'thanks' when someone passes you the salt. It's the 'ahhhh' moment when you kick your shoes off after returning home. It's just being vaguely content about something, and it's not a very powerful form of gratitude, but it's better manifestation-fuel than whining, bitterness, or negativity.
THANKFULNESS goes beyond simple contentment. It's the 'thank you so much' you give to someone when their content has given you an a-ha moment, or the humble gratitude you have for having a home to return to at all. It's still mostly small spikes of gratitude, and relatively weak as far as manifesting-power goes, but it's a step in the right direction and can definitely get some pleasant results.
APPRECIATION is when we've crossed into deliberate, prolonged, consistent gratitude. It's writing an entire article as a tribute to something we appreciate. It's paying close attention to details and showing true appreciation for any and all of them. It's seeing the positive aspects in everything, even things that others would bitch about. As far as manifestation is concerned, a truly impressive life can be built on appreciation alone. If someone is able to bring deep appreciation to everything they do, they'll live a charmed life, and I'm telling you right now, only a few people ever manage to do this. It takes practice reach this level.
'FUTURE' GRATITUDE is appreciation, but for things that have yet to manifest in our current reality. (The Bible calls this 'prayer', but it's kind of a loaded word.) This is being truly, deeply, clearly grateful for the lottery we've already won in the future. It's being sublimely thankful for the soulmate we've already united with. It's being blissed out at the incredible performance we've delivered for the client next week. And since most people are trained to worry about the future, only a miniscule amount of humans have practiced future gratitude enough to be adept at it. Some people dip into this now and then, but only legendary gurus and law of attraction masters dwell in this gratitude-zone. Still, I know you can do it too, with focused practice.
If you're wondering why your manifestations are happening at a certain speed, it very often correlates to the level of gratitude you've been embodying on that subject, or in general, so it's worth exploring.
That said, while gratitude is a powerful manifestation tool...
It's still just one tool, nonetheless.
There are other methods and approaches to manifestation, but I won't get into them here. Instead, I'll just say that a tool is only as good as it's wielder.
To use gratitude effectively takes practice.
Especially if you happen to be rusty.
And I hate to say it, but most of humanity is rusty AF at gratitude.
Most people are just like I was in my dark years: Massively whiny yet claiming I was 'a grateful person' til I was blue in the face... meanwhile manifesting next to nothing.
Most people are so under-practiced at gratitude, they can't even recognize when they're really tapping into it, or just how deeply they're doing so.
Only you know the truth about your level of gratitude, but if you don't wake up soulfully grateful that you have a) a solid surface supporting you to lay down, b) a roof keeping you sheltered from the elements, and c) the massive, open, freedom-embodying outdoors that is nature, I'd say you've some work to do, because those are insanely valuable blessings, not to be taken for granted. Same goes for the miraculous inner-workings of the human body healing you, restoring you, energizing you to get through yet another day. Same goes for the trillions of dollars flowing throughout our economy.
I want you to manifest your dreams, and one of the best tools you have at your fingertips to help realize them... is gratitude.
And I hope this piece helps you use it well.
Much love,
#KeepRyzing
Want more of my LOA posts?
- Law Of Attraction Explained: Explainer Video With Doodles
- Money Manifestation Demystified!
- 5 Myths About Manifesting A Specific Person, Busted
- 3 Simple Steps To Manifest... Anything
- 4 Levels Of Belief - An Average Joe's Approach To LOA
- Why You Suck At Manifesting & LOA (Probably)
- Confusing Law Of Attraction Terms: Explained (Properly!)
- The (Not So) Hidden Truth About Jesus & Law Of Attraction
- Law Of Attraction: Going General Vs. Super Specific
Stock images courtesy of epic stock site, Envato.com
I love the way in which you break this down so simply and clearly to make it accessible and understandable to everyone. I definitely can identify with being at different levels of the gratitude spectrum at different times of my life and in different scenarios, at this present time, but I do agree that practicing gratitude is the way to go, even if it is not always easy. It is something that needs a mindful approach to become habitual and we need to each do our little bit each day to integrate gratitude into our lives. Baby steps is all it takes to get started ... I profess it is not as yet habitual for me as I would like ... I need to practice more mindfulness to allay the unimportant distractions (the small stuff we sometimes sweat) of life, although I try to take time out daily to remind myself of the joys that I have in my life and to celebrate those. I particularly love your 4th level of future gratitude = prayer. Manifestation for ourselves and our loved ones through a deep sense of faith and gratitude and effort combined is truly rewarding. @ dreemsteem isn't this a lovely post from J? Keep ryzing J... you lift everyone with your posts❣️🙏 !PIZZA !ALIVE !LUV !LOLZ
Awww, feelin' the love, thanks so much for such a well-thought-out comment and kind words! I believe we can all identify with being at different levels of gratitude at various times on certain subjects, as well as identify with benefitting from mindfulness towards, and practice of, gratitude. May a deep level of 'prayerful' gratitude and appreciation become habit for as many as possible, right? :) Thanks so much, I'm working on a post for a new blockchain game that helps farmers next, lol. Thanks for the alive luv pizza lolz ❣️🙏
wow! Interesting. I will check my gratitude levels.
grateful for learning.
I work a lot on it and your words today guide me.
Thank you very much from the heart.
Merry Christmas!.
I'm happy you found it interesting and it inspired you to check your gratitude levels. Thank you very much from the heart for your comment, and Merry Christmas to you as well! 🙏
Thanks!.
I will do it. Reviewing us is part of learning and you have given me the guide for it in your writing 🙏
I appreciate you taking your time responding in Spanish.
Blessings of the Universe for you✨
Hooray! And yes, we're all reviewing and learning, glad you appreciate my rough translation :) 🙏
I agree, and I can admit that even I am rusty, and even CRUSTY when it comes to it. With all my setbacks I have sometimes gotten lost and failed to be grateful for all the wonderful blessings I do have. In fact, my health setbacks have even been a sort of a blessing. They have allowed me to search within myself to find better talents. It has even forced me to find different ways to do things, in some cases better than before.
Thanks for this awesome post you ass-kicking sum-gun!
All good, you're ahead of most people because they're either not aware of it, outright denying it, or admitting proudly it as a crutch to avoid making an actual change. Great to see you being grateful for things like 'setbacks', that's a very good sign, similar to me being grateful for my homeless years, etc. Good on ya, thanks for the great comment, and glad you liked the post from this sum-gum, lol! 🙏
This is something I'm struggling deeply in even now... I wouldn't go as far to say I feel entitled or am ignorant, but I'm just far more real with myself than the norm. I actually have an article on gratitude I started about 2 weeks back that I have not come around to finishing or even posting because everything I post I want it to be my truth. I think it takes practice of it in small steps and those are what I'm working towards, but my personal journey in this has felt quite hard... Thanks for breaking it down into steps from your perspective. I think I actually practice thankfulness and appreciation quite often but still feels like quite a deep feat for me.
!PIZZA
Hey, thanks for sharing this, and it's a good step that you're aware of where you're at and real with yourself. It's also good that you practice any gratitude at all, thankfulness, appreciation, etc. -- the trick for all of us is to deepen, elevate, and increase frequency of our gratitude. It's a journey and a practice, but one I believe we're all capable of. Today I intend to be more grateful than ever before, and I hope you do so as well. I believe in you, #KeepRyzing and thanks for the pizza! 🙏
No problem... Thanks for the positive words of affirmation. The part of increasing frequencies of gratitude really resonated with me as often times when working out we would do reps of various exercises, but here in terms of gratitude how many "reps" or different workouts do we actually practice.
This is something I will try and work on moving forward. <3
My pleasure, glad it resonated with you. Yes! You've got it, it's very similar to working out, do the reps well, challenge yourself, and watch your gratitude muscles (& manifestations) grow. Rock on! <3 🙏
Whooooo! I have a deep appreciation and gratitude for You, everything You’ve taught me, and Your work. And I’m future grateful for how many people this will help. Thank You for teaching me how to to be grateful i spent too long barely grateful for anything or anyone 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️❤️
Totally mutual, and I express it in my own ways ;) 🙏❤️
Yes You do! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️❤️
View or trade
BEER
.Hey @ryzeonline, here is a little bit of
BEER
from @pixresteemer for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER
.Feelin' the love, thanks! 🙏
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@infinitytcg(1/12) tipped @ryzeonline (x1)
Join us in Discord!
🙏
Being contented is really important it curbs being greedy.
It certainly does, and I'm grateful for your comment! :) 🙏
Hooray! Thanks again! 🙏