Don’t Chase What You Already Have: Find Sufficiency and Gratitude

Life Coaching Tip: There is nothing you must do to feel the way you’d like to feel other than to allow yourself to feel it. Don’t tell yourself that you need your circumstances to be different to be happy. Instead, focus on how you can feel happy NOW.  If you don’t recognize what you have and allow yourself to enjoy it, you will always keep chasing something that you will never catch. Centering on sufficiency and gratitude can be a game changer!

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So, here’s a bit of a confession from my walk this morning . . . .

It was a cold, but beautiful morning, and the sun made a brief appearance as I ventured out. Thoughts were coming to me fast as I hit the trail. I had a lot on my mind.

I recently joined a new coaching mastermind group, and I was thinking a lot about the ideas that had been discussed on our last call.  I felt overwhelmed because there were so many things that I wanted to implement—so my brain was bouncing from one thing to the next.

I was also thinking about my elderly father.  He had been facing some serious health issues, and it had been sad for me to see him not feeling well.  As I walked, I was strategically going over my dad’s schedule of appointments in my head, and I tried to reassure myself that I hadn’t forgotten anything.

Then, my thoughts bounced to the holidays. I mentally made a grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner, and I tried to figure out when I would be able to get to the store.  And then I thought about how quickly Christmas would arrive.

My head was down as I plodded along down the trail—I was deep in thought and my mind was spinning.

Yikes! This feels like a lot, I thought.

All I really want to do is to relax and enjoy my life, but I don’t see how that is EVER going to happen!

I need to get organized, hustle, and knock all this stuff out so I can finally feel at peace.

What if I can’t get it all done?  There is so much to do!

After a while (longer than I care to admit), I realized what I was doing—so I finally stopped. And I looked up.

There, right in front of me, was a stunning tree that had shed most of its leaves but was full of red, plump berries.  It was full of something else too: bright red cardinals.  What a gorgeous sight!

I watched them for quite a while and listened to their beautiful calls.  I took some deep breaths and became very present in the moment.  And as you may have guessed, I FELT PEACEFUL AND RELAXED! I was enjoying myself!

I thought:

Oh, my gosh! What a tale you were telling!

There is nothing you must DO to feel the way you would like to feel other than to allow yourself to feel it. Stop telling yourself that you need circumstances to be different to be happy and focus on how you can feel happy NOW.

I reminded myself to stop chasing what I already have!

Okay, now here’s another confession . . . this isn’t the first time I’ve become lost in thoughts of insufficiency.

However, I’m much better at catching myself in this unhelpful thought flow. And I’ve learned the best way to turn things around quickly is presence and gratitude.

When I stop focusing on what’s lacking in my life and relish in all the goodness that’s right in front of me, peaceful feelings of contentment return.

Has this ever happened to you?

What feelings are you chasing? Peace, joy, love? Security, contentment, freedom? Happiness? Or something else?

How much is already available to you right now?

Are you willing to acknowledge it and ALLOW it in?

This is vital to embodying a life of fulfillment.

If you never recognize what you have and allow yourself to savor it, you will always keep chasing something that you’ll never catch. It will always be one step ahead of you.

This is big, my friend!

Give yourself the gift of peaceful contentment that you deserve. Center yourself in sufficiency and gratitude, and delight in the brilliance of today!