Grateful Threads
Weaving Lessons, Losses, and the Practice of Gratitude
Gratitude is an amazing thing. It’s a mindset tool that can quickly shift your perspective and even your mood. Sometimes, whenever I feel a bit disconnected from myself or even the present moment, I go on a “Gratitude Rampage”.
Why?
Gratitude has been shown to increase happy hormones like dopamine (activates the brain’s reward system), serotonin (improves mood and reduces feelings of depression), and oxytocin (when done in relationships can foster connection and trust). In short, gratitude fosters a positive feedback loop of emotional well-being by directly influencing the neurochemicals responsible for happiness.
How to Gratitude Rampage (approximately 2-3 minutes). Appropriate for when you need a quick vibe shift, or when you want to be present. Don’t be too hard on yourself, if you can only name two things, gratitude, like many things, is a practice.
Directions:
Literally just say what you’re grateful for outloud. “I am thankful, I am grateful, I am blessed….”
Stumped? That’s ok, let me do one for you…. I am thankful for:
this delicious warm meal at trilogy sanctuary. (the miso bowl is my favorite)
access to organic & nutrient dense food. This is a luxury I will never take for granted.
my ability to afford this meal. To have funds in my bank account. To not have to worry where my next meal will come from.
access to wellness practices (yoga, cold-plunging, pilates, dance, sauna). What a privilege, what a luxury. I just came from a contrast therapy session.
Not so hard, right? That came from literally looking at my table. The trick is to take stock of what you have within reach and ask yourself “how can I be grateful for this” and always go one degree deeper.
Ok, but maybe hit the reply button and send me your gratitude rampage and tell me how that made you feel.
On a more serious note, here are the top things I’m most grateful for this year:
A job that allows me to work from home and allows me to dictate my schedule (for the most part). While it may be demanding a lot of the time, the trade off is worth it. The flexibility allows me to build out my wellness practices and while I know it may seem like I’m always working on one of my work streams, I know that this is just a chapter and this is just a season. I am so thankful for the opportunity to set the foundation for my future. This job has helped me continue to build on my skillset. In 2024, I poured more into developing myself as a healer by taking certification courses in Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Mindfulness/Meditation.
What's something that is a current pain in the ass for you? How can you reframe the energy around it?
Patience and compassion shown towards me this year. As I navigate the journey of entrepreneurship while juggling a full-time job (that I’m grateful for, see above) and life, I’ve fallen short in areas I once excelled in (keeping up with relationships). I could be better at returning calls/texts in a timely manner or even at all, I could take more initiative at planning get togethers, I could be better at checking in, the list goes on. In moments where I feel shame for coming up short in my relational matters, I am met with warmth, patience, and understanding. This has opened my eyes. I expected perfection from others because I expected perfection from myself. It was only when I started to “fail” did I finally connect to my humaness. I wasn't coming up short, per se. I was just doing the best that I could with the tools that I had. Have I improved my productivity and scheduling so that I can fill my cup and connect with others from a place of centeredness and availability?Also, yes. I am most grateful for this humbling lesson. My relationship with perfectionism will be something I continue to work on.
Where can you show yourself more compassion and understanding?
Kim pep talk: Ok, so you messed up. You did the best that you could with what you knew at the time. Now that you know better, you can do better. And guess what, you’ll slip up again, and it’s going to be ok. Know that if you want to be a kind, compassionate, and empathetic person towards others, you actually have to be that to yourself first.
Is being human about doing our best with what we have while simultaneously, leaving room for improvement? In my mindfulness training, I learned about the 7 attitudes of mindfulness (which I’ll unpack in a later newsletter), but this echos the idea of acceptance and the beginner’s mind.
What’s a lesson you learned this year?
Family & this thing called life. Losing my grandmother at the beginning of this year put a lot of things into perspective. A natural born leader and teacher, my grandmother was an outstanding member of the Vietnamese community. She was a grade school principal (unheard of for a woman during her time) in Vietnam. She impacted students so much so they continued to seek her out decades later. Sometimes I feel like she served as an anchor to a time long gone. Whatever it was, she did it well and many came to pay their respects. Her death made me question my purpose and the legacy i’ll leave behind. I am thankful for the time I had with her, the way she loved me, the weekend I spent with her before she left this world, and the lessons on hard work, resilience, and compassion she imparted on me.
Did you experience any kind of loss this year? What silver lining can you extract from this loss?
When’s the last time you spent some intentional quality time with your family/friends? Like really present. Like you’re actually engaged in conversation and creating new memories.
Competitors. I love competitors because they give you a blueprint of where you can excel. Their shortcoming are your opportunities. How’s that for a reframe?
Tell me what you're thankful for.
Until next time —I promise it won’t be such a long hiatus. The holiday season is a time where I do a lot of introspection and writing.
