GRATITUDE: Going Beyond the Gold*

— by Sheridan Stewart —

I’ve set aside time today to write about gratitude. I’ve been awake since 2 am. The joys of menopause and an overactive mind still manifest as insomnia from time to time, messing with my mood. I could, of course, reschedule and write tomorrow after a good night’s sleep but today is the 500th consecutive day of my Gratitude Practice, which feels auspicious.

It’s easy, after a good night’s sleep, it’s easy to feel grateful. When the sun is shining, your lottery number has finally come up, when you’re madly in love with someone who loves you back and when you receive that longed-for promotion.

It’s easy when it’s easy, eh?

But today? Today, it’s even more important (and helpful!) to dig deep beneath the surface and unearth gratitude.

On a difficult day, I start my Gratitude Practice with the words “Even though…”.

Even though I’ve been awake since 2 am, I’m grateful to see the dawn break, to know that I can take a nap if I need to and I’m grateful that I can go to bed early tonight.

Starting with “Even though…” allows you to be authentic. It’s okay to recognise that something (or someone) has upended your proverbial applecart, that you’re feeling out of sorts or that life is tough at the moment.

To have a truly successful gratitude practice, your words need to ring true.

Go beyond the gold to find those glimmers of gratitude.

Sometimes, those glimmers are hidden in the mundane. The everyday things we take for granted: the fresh air on our skin and in our lungs, the rush of relief when a loved one arrives late but safely, the clean water that quenches our thirst and hydrates our cells, the birdsong lifting our spirits — the myriad of tiny moments that form the landscape of our lives, are all there to be mined in our Gratitude Practice.

My book, I Am Enough, is dedicated to my late friend, Mel. While dealing with not one but two terminal illnesses, Mel declared herself to be “terminally happy.” That’s quite a declaration! We often label someone as a “cup half full” or “cup half empty” type of person. Mel was something else. She could look at a seemingly empty cup, find a metaphorical molecule of water and be grateful.

Since Mel’s passing, I often reflect on her capacity for gratitude, which seemed as boundless as it was deep and genuine.

This is not the article I had planned to write today but as I walk the same stretch of beach I used to walk along whilst talking or texting with Mel, it occurs to me that when we focus on Gratitude, our lives become richer in every way; those little glimmers we uncover allow love and hope to surface, even on the most difficult of days.

*This story was published in the March 2025 edition of Soul Sentred Magazine.