Some days all I can see is the mess around me. Conflicting needs, insufficient resources and a will only to rest. The question is can I find the grace in the mess instead of getting swept up in feeling daunted and overwhelmed? The beauty of life is still apparent even when things are falling apart.

How we think when things are not going as we’d hope or worse still, when things fall apart in ways we can’t imagine is everything. Staying clear and loving yourself when the world isn’t showing its love is where things have the biggest chance to change. Unfortunately, this is usually where our old tapes and useless habits kick in. It is a fast and slippery slope that isn’t even fun sliding down.

The cure is gratitude. Any form of gratitude works because you can’t be caught in fear and practice gratitude simultaneously. Any grateful thought will stop the slide. It could be something as small as the green of the grass, or the old shoes on your feet, or a warm cup of tea. Going outside into anything natural helps too. True colors of the earth ground us and fill us with their beauty often in spite of ourselves.

Lately I am surrounded by the mess. In a hormonal slump, I am working hard to keep my daily gratitude practice going. Here is the thing, even when you don’t feel it, practicing gratitude, writing a list, saying the thanks out loud to no one in particular or to someone specifically, actually shifts the way your brain is working.

I do not feel particularly productive when I am lost in my mess. Still I push myself toward gratitude. I lean in to feel anything grateful because I know that is the way up.