Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. 

How to Bottle Gratitude was a post that appeared on the Red Shoe Zone on June 17, 2013. It warrants a repeat with a great idea I heard this past weekend added as an intro. It makes “bottling gratitude” even more meaningful and FUN!

Bottling Gratitude Made Even Better

I was at an awesome women’s retreat hosted by the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, nestled high in the majestic mountains of beautiful BC, this past weekend. I facilitated a workshop that draws on the power of gratitude as a key element in resetting and transforming life. After the session I was talking to Heather, one of the participants, she was telling me about her Gratitude Jar. “I have a Gratitude jar too!” I said.

Her’s takes the fun one step further.

Heather has a Gratitude Jar. She starts fresh every year on January 1.

Every time she’s grateful for something she writes it on a post it note, folds it up  and pops it in her jar.

Her Gratitude Jar continues to fill up with bright folded slips as days turn into weeks and weeks into months.

It’s a happy sight.

(Mine smiles at me from its ‘perch’ beside the computer.)

On New Years Day Heather opens her jar—unfolds and reads all the things that made her feel grateful in the past year.

Then knowing how blessed she is she launches into the New Year and begins the process again.

I loved it! What an great idea. Instead of traditional resolutions start the year with a heart full of gratitude!

I wanted to get this idea to you ASAP so you could, if you haven’t already, create a Gratitude Jar.

I want you to have LOTS to open up on New Years Day.

Imagine starting the New Year with a mind set of…..”What an awesome life I have I can’t wait to see what the New Year has in store.”

Gives me goosies!

How to Bottle Gratitude — as it appeared June 17, 2013.

The single greatest thing we can do for ourselves is to express gratitude.

For the past few months I’ve been on a very intense journey of self exploration. That’s what anticipating open heart surgery to repair a congenital heart valve ‘issue’ will do for you! Not that I would recommend this particular route I’m sure there are others equally as good. My six month sojourn brought me to important realizations, not the least of which is…..

Gratitude opens our hearts and calms our fears. Gratitude…leads to joy and happiness.

I know this without question. I had big fears (like mortality) that were threatening to swallow me up whole. In the face of gratitude they literally disappeared. In their place joy and happiness blossomed. I could actually feel the heaviness and tension flowing out of me and the lightness and calm taking over.

I expressed gratitude everyday…..day after day…even when it was hard. I started by noting 5 things I was grateful for…then I filled a whole page…I made gratitude calls.  The more I stayed with it the more my heart would sing. I wrote not only what I was grateful for but why. Interestingly it was the ordinary, everyday things (often overlooked) that had the most profound effect on me.  I felt a shift.

As well as my gratitude journal I’ve now created a Gratitude Jar.

A gratitude jar is a simple container filled with slips of paper with words and ideas that symbolize all the blessings in our lives. Commit to depositing at least one every day. Your heart will fill alongside the jar.

On a day when you hit a rough patch and feeling gratitude is just too hard, reach your hand into the jar. Pull out a slip of paper and slowly unfold it. The message or word that appears will speak directly to your heart and conjure an image of what you love the most. Aaaahhhhhh.

 All is well.

How to Make a Gratitude Jar

Use a jar with a mouth large enough to easily reach into (I used  a medium mason jar). Create a gratitude jar label. I call these ‘heart doodles’. Tie it on with ribbon, raffia, cord, string, jute, or pipe cleaner. Write gratitudes daily and place in jar. Put gratitude jar in highly visible spot! (Mine is beside my computer).

PS — Sharing this will fill your heart and the hearts of those you share with. Pass it on.

More on Gratitude

“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.” Anthony Robbins

“We are most alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Thorton Wilder

Robert Emmons studies gratitude as a Professor at UC Davis in California. If you’re interested in the science behind it—he’s the guy! His studies have shown gratitude heals, energizes, changes lives and makes people 24% happier.

PS — Sharing this will fill your heart and the heas of those you share with. Pass it on.