Hello, and welcome. I'm Julia Cartwright, and I'm so glad you're here. Right now, between the holidays and the tail end of December, you might be feeling a little wrung out, like someone squeezed all the juice out of an orange and forgot to refill it. That's okay. Today, we're going to practice gratitude not as some cheerleading exercise, but as a genuine way to find the good stuff that's still right there in front of you.

Let's start by settling in. Find a place where you can sit comfortably, even if it's just on the edge of your bed or in your car during a lunch break. No judgment here. Go ahead and close your eyes whenever you feel ready. Take three deep breaths with me. In through your nose, feeling the cool air. Out through your mouth. One more. And one more. Good.

Now, I want you to think about three small moments from today or yesterday that you might have almost missed. Not the big stuff. I'm talking about the tiny things. Maybe it was the warmth of your coffee mug in your hands. The way someone smiled at you. A song that made you pause. Whatever it was.

Bring the first moment into your mind's eye. Don't force it, just let it come gently, like a photograph developing. Notice what you see, what you feel in your body when you remember it. There's a natural gratitude that happens when we slow down enough to actually pay attention. It's not fake; it's just honest observation.

Now move to the second moment. And then the third. As you sit with each one, let yourself feel the texture of appreciation. Not as an obligation, but as a real recognition of the good that found you, even on a day that might have felt heavy.

Here's what I want you to do today. Before bed tonight, take just two minutes and jot down those three small moments. Nothing fancy. A sentence. A phrase. This creates a little anchor you can return to whenever the day feels thin.

This is what gratitude practice really is. It's training your brain to catch the light, not because life is always light, but because the light is always there if we know where to look.

Thank you so much for joining me on Gratitude Practice: Daily Mindfulness Reflections for Happiness. Please subscribe so you never miss a moment of presence. Take good care out there.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI