Free and Easy: The Gratitude Option

Article that appeared in The New Leaf ™.

My head and heart are full as I write today, and I am poised between anxiety and gratitude. This is a perfect position from which to notice the siren song of responsibilities, duties, and all the various seductions of busyness as well as the deeper thrumming of life unfolding in, under and around me independent of my will and attachments.

I returned just 36 hours ago from my trip to the east coast for the International Coach Federation (ICF) conference followed by several wonderful days visiting a friend in Washington, D.C. Yesterday I had the privilege of presenting a brief career path workshop to the Seattle area Webgrrls in celebration of International Webgrrls Day. Today is a birthday party for my goddaughter, Shawna, who is 18. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new work week.

There are dozens of invitations implicit in this chronology: opportunities to seize up in anxious anticipation of the mail I have to open and answer, the gift that needs to be found and wrapped, the classes to prepare, even the dusting of counters and petting of cats. Fortunately I am aware of another set of invitations--opportunities to marvel at how possible and simple much of what I have to do can be, to celebrate the sometimes silly complexity and rich texture of my life, and to regard the likelihood that I will fall short of my self-imposed and self-centered performance goals with humor and humility.

During his session on Masterful Coaching at the ICF conference, Julio Olalla reminded us that the root of gratitude is the Latin word gratis, meaning free. When I take time for gratitude, I become aware of all that I am freely given. That awareness in turn sets me free, an hour or a day at a time, from chronic busyness and concern. Ohómore to be grateful for!