Last night I had trouble falling asleep, as my mind was flooding with the stressors you’d expect when in the midst of purchasing a home for the first time, transitioning work places, working full time as a Mental Health Therapist, and struggling to say “no” when it comes to social engagements, good causes, and fun. This pace of life is making my head spin!

So, while in bed last night, I found my body tossing and turning, my mind was racing with different logistics needed to navigate in order to keep up with the commitments and current life transitions in process. I felt frustrated, “can’t I just sleep already?”

I felt stressed, a bit anxious, and burdened, I had high hopes for a good night’s rest and was starting to become discouraged. Then in the midst of the discouragement, a thought occurred to me “We are a people who practice gratitude before bed. It’s like us to practice gratitude as a way to calm our minds. We are a people who return to Joy and act like ourselves during big emotions.”

I spoke that process of thoughts out loud and a smile slid on my face, a sense of Joy overcame me, and I knew what I needed to do. I needed to practice my 3x3 gratitude exercises that my community and I know how to practice.

So there I went while laying in bed, mumbling with a big grin on my face…

3 things I’m grateful for today

3 things I’m grateful for about God

3 things I’m grateful for about someone else

No longer did I feel alone in my anxious thoughts, I remembered I am part of a community, a people who practice gratitude before bed, who act like ourselves, and know how to return to Joy from big emotions. Before I could finish the 3 things I was grateful for about God, I must have fallen asleep. Wow, that exercise worked wonders! I am grateful to say, I slept peacefully the rest of the night.

It was like me to remember I’m part of a community of people that practices acting like ourselves and knows how to return to Joy during big emotions. It was like me to practice gratitude like my community does too. Remembering who my community is and practicing what we do, is how I returned to Joy from the big emotion of anxiety I was experiencing when trying to fall asleep the other night.

How about you, friend? What’s it like for you to act like yourself, and to return to Joy from big emotions? Who is your community? Curious about the community I am part of? Reach out, i’d love to share with you more or click here to see where I’ve been getting all kinds of training on growing Joy!