My gratitude mantras

Here at the Utopian Dystopian, I believe in having positive posts along with more heavy or dark and introspective ones. So let me introduce you to gratitude mantras! And hold on, before you say "I know about gratitude mantras... yawn" hear me out.

Just last the other day my therapist (yes, of course I am in therapy!) urged me to put together a personalized gratitude list.  I decided to take it one step farther and make a list of  gratitude mantras. In all of the institutions I have had the fortune (misfortune?) to visit, the messages and lessons get tediously repetitive.  But the one concept that I find to be incredibly valuable is that of gratitude mantras.  They are basically short, generally positive affirmations of thankfulness and gratitude to remind you that things could always be worse, and that no matter how low you are or how far you have fallen, there are always, always, things you can be grateful for.  Even at a bare minimum, the very fact that you can recite a mantra means you are alive, and you can be grateful for that.  I suppose an argument could be made that if you wish to die that wouldn’t be the case but I would hope you never get to that point because it is a feeling I never wish to experience again. That being said, here are some common (but a bit mundane) examples:

• I am grateful for the beauty, love, and joy that surrounds me.
• It's a gift that we get to have this human experience. Embrace it!
• I clearly see all there is to be grateful for in life.
• I have everything I need to be happy right now.
• Today I am grateful for ______.
• I appreciate all the lessons I've learned.
• I am grateful for my goals and aspirations.
• I am thankful for the many things that bring me joy.

Now those are all well and good but I find after a while of reciting them, they just seem too generic and without having a really solid impact.  For a guy like me, there needs to be a smashing of the head with a hammer!  A veritable punch in the gut to get me to pay attention and help me ride a severe craving wave.  By the way, if you haven’t heard the term craving wave, I’ll explain just a little farther down in this post.

So without further ado, here is my personal gratitude mantra list:

• I am so grateful to have been granted this life, and to still be alive.
• I am grateful for my mother, who is the only one who never abandoned or turned her back on me.
• I am overjoyed with the beautiful outdoor garden space my mother lovingly creates.
• I am thankful for healthy children and their good mother.
• I am hopeful because family members’ doors are open to relationships.
• I am fortunate to have a roof over my head, and shoes on my feet.
• I am incredibly blessed to have my own basement living space, with internet, my own bathroom, a tv, and a computer.
• I am so glad to have a working phone that I haven’t lost or broken yet.
• I am grateful for my health, that I am still recoverable.
• I am grateful for my Facebook friends that are still rooting and pulling for me.
• I am blessed to have a brain that still functions at a high level.
• I am blessed to have the gift of introspection.
• I am grateful for my bicycle which has not yet been stolen.
• I am thankful for all of the workers in all of the institutions I have been in that believed in me.
• I am grateful for my current therapists and case managers who steer me in the right direction.
• I am grateful for my cellos, for the family that hid them from me, and that I never sold or smashed them.
• I am grateful for the people on the street that helped me, and I am hopeful for a better life for them.
• I am blessed with many physical and mental gifts that others do not possess and it is a shame to waste them.
• I am grateful, hopeful, and looking forward to a positive future devoid of harmful substances.

So that is the list.  Now, how is the best way to utilize these mantras?  You could do one each day in the morning, as some do.  That would fall into the category of positive affirmations, but positive affirmations expand on these to include things such as “I am smart.  I have my own power.  I dictate how my day will go.”.  

I choose to read my entire list.  Here is the very crucial part:  After reading each one, pause for a moment, close your eyes, and visualize it.  Let it sink in.  Imagine if the opposite were true.

In effect, treat the entire list as a mini meditation.  Take about 5-10 minutes with it.  You can do it in the morning to set your day off well, or you can do it whenever you feel stressed out or depressed in a moment.  I keep mine on my phone so that I can bring it up (though I almost have it memorized now).  I especially use it when I feel a crave wave come on.

A crave wave is when, out of nowhere, I feel a wave of craving for a drink or a substance wash over me.  It is powerful… People talk about triggers, and a crave wave is like that but on steroids.  Triggers can cause a crave wave, but a crave wave can happen without a trigger.  For me that is often the case.  Things could be going exceedingly well, and I could be very motivated, then BAM!! Outta nowhere it slams me like a rogue ocean wave.

This is when I pull out my mantra list.  It does not matter one bit what I am doing, I take the 5-10 minutes to read through and visualize it, and I keep repeating until the wave goes away.  It works.  It helps.  It isn’t the “end all be all” but it is a powerful tool, along with the play it forward list.  But THAT is for another post 😀.  As always, peace and strength my friends, and I am grateful for your ongoing readership.