Guidepost #4: Cultivate Gratitude and Joy – Let go of scarcity and fear of the dark

After diving into all three books by Brene Brown I realized that The Gifts of Imperfection is the perfect companion to the work I do around the effect stress, anxiety, and feeling like enough have on loving your body and living a fulfilling life. To share in these gifts I am writing about a guidepost a week from the book for the next 10 weeks and how to embrace each one. I will also gift a journal prompt with each guidepost for you to use. I love this book and encourage you to pick up a copy!

I am a big fan of Sex and the City - I can watch the same episode over and over without getting bored of it. There is a scene where Charlotte is talking with Carrie about holding back on her life and she says, “I am so happy that I am terrified. No one gets everything they want…”

What a crazy idea but this is what you think when you’re exactly where we want to be! You immediately think, “When is the other shoe going to drop?” This is being afraid of the dark - being afraid of the moments between joyful moments.

Scarcity is that feeling that nothing is ever enough. It’s accomplishing your weight loss goal and a week later wanting an even better goal. It’s reading your Facebook updates and feeling like your life pales in comparison to other’s highlights. It’s not feeling adequate enough before you even get out of bed in the morning.

The anecdote? Joy! Joy happens when you recognize how good things actually are. This is where practicing gratitude comes in. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of deadlines, diets, and daily stressors but if you slow down and be mindful right now what are you grateful for?

Cultivate Gratitude and Joy - Set 10 minutes on a timer and place pen to paper.

I am grateful for…

Download a free .pdf of all the guidepost journal prompts here!