Actively practice gratitude. Every day. Practice gratitude every time you get in your car; every time you get out of your car. Find other things during your day that will remind you to feel gratitude — when you eat, when you go to the bathroom, when you go to bed. Be diligent. Be deliberate. Be intentional. Make it your primary spiritual practice.
Then actively practice being vulnerable. Use the practice I’ve taught you called “walking with your organs exposed.” Recognize when you’re being controlling, and let it go. Recognize when you’re being judgmental, and let it go. Soften. Be openhearted. Trust yourself.
Then welcome joy (or begin to recognize how you protect against it). Let yourself sink into it wherever and whenever you find it.
Notice all the ways that you defend and protect yourself. Let them go.
Like playing the piano, you only get good at these things if you practice them daily, diligently.
Tie a string around your finger to remind yourself. Copy this newsletter and tape it to your mirror, to the dashboard in your car, to your computer, to your phone. Put it in your purse. Put it in your billfold. Put it in your shopping bag. Put it under your pillow, under your dinner plate, under your coffee cup, in your refrigerator. Copy this and hand it out to your friends, tell them this is what you’re doing, ask for their support.
Keep a record of your practice. Are you taking the time to really do it? How’s it going? How do you feel? Keep daily notes. Keep a journal. Keep a checklist.
Report back.
Perhaps I’ll send this very newsletter out every week until the end of the year. I truly think it’s that valuable a practice.
I love you. I’ll be doing this with you.