7 Major Life Lessons I’ve Learned in the Past 7 Years (And How You Can Learn Them Too) -Part 2

Hi beautiful soul, glad to see you again! As promised, this is the second part of my 7 lessons series. (you can find part one here) There’s the third part coming up, so make sure to come back soon. Now let’s get straight into it.

Lesson number two: Gratitude

The benefits of practising gratitude are nearly endless, studies have been made, articles have been written, it’s a very popular subject nowadays,
and for a good reason: it works.

I won’t get into too many details regarding the whys and the hows, but I will rather mention some challenges that I personally faced over the years -which you may face too- and how to overcome them.

a) Be consistent. Yes, it works even if you do it once in a while, but doing it every day, even multiple times a day? Oh my, it will completely transform your life!

So make it a habit. Studies have shown to take anywhere from about 3 weeks to slightly over 2 months to form a new habit, depending on the person. If you’re willing to commit, there are numerous ways, you just have to try and test until finding the one that works for you. Important is that you remind yourself to keep doing it, no excuses until the habit is formed. Your brain will take it from there.

b) Get creative. Make it fun. Practising gratitude doesn’t have to be another thing on your to-do list. It should be a little ritual you look forward to.

You can make it a morning, evening or lunch break routine. You can do it mentally or you can write it down- on a journal, on your phone or laptop. You can make a ‘Gratitude jar’ and pop in a colourful post it every time you find something to be grateful for. Then, every time you need, just pick one and read it. Make sure to keep it in a visible and easy (but not too easy if you have a cat) accessible place. There are literally endless options here.

d) Include others. Be it your partner, children, or BFF, including others in your new practice, can make it more interesting and even more rewarding from day one. Organize a weekly ‘gratitude dinner’ with your closest friends where you are all focusing on all the beautiful things that happened to you that week. Make it a bedtime routine with your children. Random text your significant other throughout the day. Write a letter to someone you are deeply grateful to. Start with your mom.

Lesson number three: Timing.

Everything happens at the exact perfect time, not earlier nor later that is supposed to. And yes, sometimes it’s not when you want. But ironically, the more impatient, frustrated, anxious you get, the more you’ll have to wait. And the more you’ll master patience, the easier and faster everything will come to you. See why it’s my number one lesson?

Also, some things take time. More time than we think. You see, our reality is not all the reality that there is. The same way we cannot hear ultrasounds and can’t see ultraviolet light, even though they exist, therefore are part of the reality, there are also many more elements out there that we don’t know about. So many more discoveries to be yet made and things to be understood. So yes, it is a vast topic which definitely deserves more attention, but for now, I won’t get too much into it and stick to the original plan, which is why you’re reading this. So let’s get to

Lesson number four: Forgiveness.

‘Understanding replaces forgiveness in the mind of the master.’ I’m not sure who originally said that (however Neale Donald Walsch says it often) and Google didn’t help much, but there’s wisdom in these words.

Now, we’re not claiming to be masters here, but regardless, this is a very valid point. I would go further and say that there cannot be true forgiveness(if we really want to use this word) without understanding. Or, forgiveness is actually deep understanding. There are many ways I could say this and all would be true and false at the same time because these are only words representing concepts and are all relative. Ok, ok, I’ll stop now.

Back to forgiveness. It’s a concept tightly related to many religions, and most of them are fear based. You cannot really forgive someone out of fear of punishment, only because you have to. If that’s all you know, you’ll think that is real forgiveness, but in reality, it isn’t.

However, when you shift your perception to a higher level of awareness when you truly understand, forgiveness becomes unnecessary. This is a very powerful lesson and you can only understand its true power
when you experience it.

That was it for today, three more of the seven life lessons series. I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions or suggestions let me know in the comments section below.

Also, if you know anyone who could find this reading useful, make sure to share it with them and come back soon for the third and last part!