Week Seven - Weaving A Tapestry of Gratitude
 Week One          Week Two          Week Three          Week Four          Week Five          Week Six
Welcome, gorgeous soul, to the final week of your Deepening Gratitude journey! This is the week in which we take all the various threads of gratitude practice you have been spinning and weave them together into one comprehensive, integrated way of interacting with the world. I am thrilled that we have reached this point together and I am excited for you to take this final steps! 

  • The power of a Personal Gratitude Statement. Answering the question: Why Gratitude? and using it as a code to live by.

  • What does your personal gratitude practice look like going forward? Which practices will you choose to support your gratitude statement?​
 
  • Gratitude is really just the beginning. It informs the practice of forgiveness, it feeds joy, and it stands as our ally in the face of challenge or difficulty.​
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Next Steps: Turn to the Week Seven Introduction on workbook page 81.
Guided Meditation - The Greatest Gift
Before you start this guided meditation, take a few moments to turn to page 82 in your workbook and fill out the 'Before' section of Worksheet 36. You will need about 15-20 minutes in total to listen to the audio and write any reflections based on the experience. Remember to put away the distractions, give yourself plenty of time, and breathe!
Next Steps: Complete worksheet 36 and whenever you are ready, watch this week's 'Going Deeper' video in the section below.  As always, if this meditation resonated with you, feel free to revisit it as often as you would like.
Going Deeper
This is the briefest of the videos throughout the entire course, but it perfectly sums up the simplicity and the power of gratitude. This beautiful, wise woman shares her personal attitude toward life which is deeply informed by gratitude. She touches on many of the things we have talked about throughout this course. I hope you can feel the warmth and sense the light emanating from this soul. Also, you should watch cartoons! (You'll see...)
Gratitude and Happiness
When life knocks you down, people will tell you to look on the bright side. But what informs the ability to do that?

The Science of Happiness Project administers a test to measure happiness levels, even in the face of difficulty, and in this video, we hear from the first person ever to achieve a perfect score.

Millicent "Mama" Hill shares her insights and attitudes toward life that directly inform her overall sense of happiness and well-being.
Next Steps: After watching this video, turn to page 83 in the workbook and complete Worksheet 37. As always, if you're in need of some uplifting words and perspectives on gratitude, keep scrolling to check out the pick-me-ups below.
Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up
Uplifting messages about gratitude. Just positive things.
BE THANKFUL
​Poet Unknown

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.
HAPPINESS (RECONSIDERED)
by Judith Viorst
​
Happiness
Is a clean bill of health from the doctor,
And the kids shouldn’t move back home for
more than a year,
And not being audited, overdrawn, in Wilkes-Barre,
in a lawsuit or in traction.

Happiness
Is falling asleep without Valium,
And having two breasts to put in my brassiere,
And not (yet) needing to get my blood pressure lowered,
my eyelids raised or a second opinion.

And on Saturday nights
When my husband and I have rented
Something with Fred Astaire for the VCR,
And we’re sitting around in our robes discussing,
The state of the world, back exercises, our Keoghs,
And whether to fix the transmission or buy a new car,
And we’re eating a pint of rum-raisin ice cream
on the grounds that
Tomorrow we’re starting a diet of fish, fruit and grain,
And my dad’s in Miami dating a very nice widow,
And no one we love is in serious trouble or pain,
And our bringing-up-baby days are far behind us,
But our senior-citizen days have not begun,
It’s not what I called happiness
When I was twenty-one,
But it’s turning out to be
What happiness is.
Guided Meditation - Sunday Night Release and Re-Center
Before you start this guided meditation, take a few moments to turn to page 90 in your workbook and fill out the 'Before' section of Worksheet 40. You will need enough quiet time to listen to the audio and to journal any reflections based on the experience. Remember to put away the distractions, give yourself plenty of time, and breathe!
Next Steps: Complete Worksheet 40 and sometime between now and the start of your next week, turn to the end-of-the-week reflections in Worksheet 31 found on page 68 in your workbook. If this meditation resonated with you, feel free to revisit it as often as you would like. ​​
Thank You!
What an honor it has been to share this Deepening Gratitude journey with you! Thank you for the time and energy you have put into this process. It is my sincere hope that you have found this experience to be rewarding and useful!

If you are interested in taking your practice further, using gratitude to explore big subjects like joy, forgiveness, and gratitude in the face of hardship, please consider reaching out to me directly at [email protected]. 

With one to one coaching, it is possible to tailor a journey to your needs, addressing any challenges that are specific to you while also taking your practice - and your relationship with life - to an entirely new level. Why not take the opportunity to talk with me about it and see if it might be right for you?
Further Resources
There are so many wonderful resources out there for supporting your gratitude practice and taking it further. These are just a few examples of different kinds of resources available to you. Please take some time to look through these lists below to discover further gems!
Books
Podcast Episodes
Videos