Practicing Gratitude

As I write this blog, I can feel the warmth of the sunlight peeking into my window which is something I haven’t felt since my run sometime last week, or longer. My weekend has been wonderful thanks to the simple pleasures of catching up with my friends, family, and making more healthy foods to nourish my body. About a month has passed since quarantine started and it has given me enough time to adjust to the rhythm of this new norm. The luxury of taking a stroll outdoors to breathe the fresh air feels liberating. Seeing people come together, helping one another, and even being mindful of their distance makes me feel good knowing that the world has finally put their differences on pause to unify.

Gratitude has always been a value I’ve ingrained in my life since the passing of a really good friend of mine on top of my beloved grandmother. However, I often forget to practice this when life gets rough. It’s one thing to acknowledge what you are grateful for, (i.e. having a roof over your head, food on the table, waived rent) but it’s another to practice and apply the gratitude through your emotions.

I’ve recently started to take meditation more seriously with even just 5 minutes of my time, just sitting on my bed or yoga ball in silence, to realign myself, my focus, and intention for the day. While this is all easy because I am away from the ruckus, I know it will be a challenge if I were to….. go back home to visit my parents or begin working again. However, learning to pivot and staying focused on my intention(s) to keep myself aligned will allow me to live through each day as ease.

There are times like these when I like to reflect back on my accomplishments to reinforce a great quote from our hero Kobe:

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Although it has been about 4 months since unemployment, I continue to maximize my time through networking online, developing/building skill sets, and more. While no offers have been made, progress is still going! I am grateful for my environment, the community I’ve built ground up, the privilege to live financially stress-free temporarily, and the time I have been given to work on my passion projects.

Despite the noise from Covid-19, how has this gift of time helped you in any way, shape or form? If it hasn’t, what are some projects or skills that you’ve been putting off? Anyone you’ve been thinking about who you haven’t spoken to in a while? I just got reminded of someone.

Let’s finish these last 3 weeks strong and be prepared for the next pivot 🙂