By: Natalie Tucker Miller
This week the US celebrates Thanksgiving. It’s customary to become aware of the things we identify as blessings in our lives and offer our thanks for these wonderful things. We’ve become somewhat used to the idea that gratitude can improve outlooks, reinforce the good things in our lives, and help us feel more optimistic and hopeful. Within the Masteries, as well, we see the language of gratitude, such as in Mastery #9 (Helping the client create and use supportive systems and structures), where one of the ways we measure success is through a client having an appreciation for what they have discovered within the coaching session. Mastery #2 (Perceiving, affirming, and expanding the client's potential), notes an appreciation of strengths and potential. But recently, I’ve begun inviting my clients to consider practicing gratitude in a way that may seem a bit of a departure from how we tend to think of gratitude. Find gratitude in our current experiences, wanted or unwanted. Unconditional gratitude. When we choose to expand our thinking, as we are encouraged to do by Masteries #2 and #8 (Inviting possibility), we find that experiencing gratitude is anything but conditional. Looking to Mastery #4 (Processing in the present), we could discover that when the “client is free to express and engage with the present reality”, regardless of circumstances or outcomes, gratitude for what-is can bring new insights into how and why gratitude is as powerful as science is now discovering. In the article "Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier" from the New York Times, Arthur C. Brooks truly echoes these sentiments of gratitude. I invite you to read it and share your thoughts.
Natalie Tucker Miller, MMC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC, as well as Past-President. Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com Publishing (www.ageless-sages.com), and creator of the literary genre, Picture Books for Elders™ |
