Since a big part of our Thanksgiving celebration is geared around food preparation, I wanted to share a tried and true recipe for a Joy-Full Life. At this time of year, we are reminded to cultivate one of the main ingredients for this recipe: gratitude. 

Before we start, you need to know that all the current circumstances in your life are simply a result of what you bring into your mind and hold in your heart. In a crisis, we can quickly judge others and ourselves and look for reasons and solutions outside ourselves for whatever is "going wrong." The statement "It's not MY fault" keeps us in a disempowering victim mode. Remember that your reality is a reflection of your consciousness. What we put in, we get out. Finding our way out of the negative and fear-infused mind can be challenging because it feeds the illusion that our happiness relies on external situations and/or material things. The following recipe will show you how to disengage with the drama so you can powerfully use the law of attraction. By practicing opening up to the healing opportunity at the moment and stretching beyond the blame game, you can create beautiful results and transform the "flavor" of your life towards sustainable happiness and joy.

1. Acceptance: What we resist persists. Most of the pain and suffering we experience comes from how we relate to and feel about our current circumstances. As we let go of the resistance, blame, and judgments, we can open up to healing the problems and attract effective and peaceful solutions.

2. Forgiveness: First, forgive yourself for holding the story in your consciousness that is attracting the "problem," then forgive the players in the story. This will prevent "sticking" and will allow you to release the attachment to the drama of your life gently. A daily practice can also act as a drama repellant for future situations.

3. Be sure to strain and clear out complaining, blaming, and resenting.

4. Then gently pour compassion into your heart, sweetened with unconditional love. If you add love but keep the judgment, you won't get the unconditional kind, and the recipe won't turn out as well. 

5. Now, you're ready to add gratitude. It's easy to give thanks for all the blessings but be sure to include the challenges and crises so you can open up to receive the gift of transformation. Gratitude heals and opens the door of our hearts so we can experience the grace of joy. 

 Gratitude can be challenging to harvest during a time of crisis. Begin by asking yourself: "What is right about me and my life right now?" Don't get caught up in what "was" or "should" be, as that will cause you to feel lost, frustrated, and heavy in your life, along with feeling powerless. This makes it harder to implement the changes and adjustments necessary to access the best ingredients within you, essential for joy.

Remember: your emotions are your GPS - Global Positioning System. Feelings and emotions are not the same. Emotions are the interpretation of a feeling and can help you navigate toward the desired result.  

Emotions also act as a magnet to what you can attract in your life and help you move towards a positive, productive, joyful place or a negative, destructive, more painful place. 

For sustainability, it is important to remember that challenges are part of life. Take responsibility to accept them and make positive choices that inspire you to move forward on your journey. Then by planting seeds of compassion, forgiveness, unconditional love, and gratitude, you can clear the old stories that are not supportive and transcend them. This recipe takes practice and requires you to develop the ability to be present. It will help you attract positive and healing solutions. Try practicing gentle breathing to allow for a deeper inner connection. 

As you strive to accept your present situation as an expression of your intentions, you can begin to align towards a more Joy-Full life. 

I have created the Spark Portal to support you daily in practicing Self-Kindness so you can breathe in gratitude and live in joy every day no matter how busy or crazy life gets! 

© Louise Lavergne