Can Gratitude Be The New Paradigm For Success? = Yes!

Hello again to my fellow travellers on life’s sweet journey,

Last week I was back in ‘tap dance teacher mode’ and I had a real awakening.

As I spent an entire 8 hour day on my feet tap dancing, and sharing my JOY of this artform with three amazing students, I realised that whilst I had been searching for who I was for 25 years –  I had actually been “being” who I was for those 25 years ha ha ha. It finally dawned on me that I was given a gift and passion for tap dance and the ability to pass on that passion of expression to other little souls. The proverbial penny dropped in a big way and I felt truly overwhelmed with gratitude.

A gratitude that has been, in all honesty, a very, very long time coming.Any member of my immediate family will tell you that I have spent many years bemoaning my lot. Saying things like:

” I wish I had some talent!”

” Why can’t I have this or do this or that?”

” It’s not fair – why does nothing good ever happen to me?”

” Why do I never get a break? No-one ever does me any favours!”

And on and on and on the whining went………poor me, poor me, poor me.

Poor Me!!!!

What an absolute joke.

I have to say in the full light of this realisation, that I have been the most ungrateful and unreasonable little human on the Planet for a very long time ha ha.

I mean – what more could I possibly want?

What more could I possibly be given?

What more could The Universe possibly bestow upon me? And more to the point –  why would it give me more when I have been so incredibly ungrateful for the first lot of gifts?

I mean – I have spent an entire lifetime tapping about to cool music and making up rhythms to go with it! And then I have been given the extra honour of being able to pass this knowledge and gift to others.

Seriously – like I said in a recent blog post: ” Nice Work If You Can Get It”

But whilst I must admit I have enjoyed most of my work life – I did have many moments wishing that I was doing something else and complaining about what wasn’t working, as opposed to celebratting the magic I was living each and every day.

And this brings me to the point of my blog today.

Gratitude!!

It really is not until you have it, that you fully realise that you didn’t have it before.

And that is my experience of the past week in a nutshell, I must admit ha ha.

And having this realisation and sudden experience of gratitude for who I am as a human being has been so incredibly liberating and freeing that I can not believe it. And for that reason I would like to suggest that GRATITUDE SHOULD BE THE NEW PARADIGM OF SUCCESS.

Yes sir ladies and gentlemen.

The day you truly feel grateful for who you are.

The day you truly feel blessed for your own particular skill set and talents.

The day you truly feel enriched by the attributes that are particular to you.

That is the day you will have found success and let me assure you  - you will feel like a proverbial pig in mud and will want to swish about in that realisation.  You will want to splash about in that muddy puddle and revel in your own particular brand of piggyness forever.

It is simply the most liberating process I have ever been through…….and quite by accident it would seem.

The key seems to be in fully realising and understanding, at the very core of your being, that being You is the key to success.

Being You is wonderful.

Being You is the point of your existence.

Being You, Loving You, Revelling in You, Appreciating You – that is it.

That is what it is all about.

For so many people life seems to become a constant act of measuring up to other people’s ideals and standards. A constant wishing to be someone else. A constant comparative in which you can never be the winner. [ it was mine for a long, long time ]

But when you fully realise that you have your own unique gifts to bring to the world –  and revel in those – as opposed to coveting someone else’s unique gifts and talents – that is when the pieces of the puzzle all fit together and a certain happiness and calm become all encompassing.

Comparisons melt away.

Certainty sets in.

Doubt is released and you become settled in the simple act of being You.

It seems so simple that it seems somewhat ridiculous.

How can life actually be so simple?

There are so many people doing the so called “ordinary things in life” – but in an extraordinary way. And that is their gift. Perhaps it is your gift too – but you are so busy trying to be someone else that you have forgotten or missed the marvellousness of the true expression of you.

The glory of You.

The wonder of You.

The gift of You to those around you.

As I shared in a recent Facebook post  - it is often the people with the least public profile who fullfill the deepest yearnings within our souls, and have the greatest impact upon us as we go about our daily business. So I am going to share that post with you here in case you missed it. And perhaps in one of the people described you will see a mirror of yourself and the wonder that is You:

SEEK TO BE WORTH KNOWING RATHER THAN WELL KNOWN

In a culture that celebrates celebrity this is such a wonderful reminder – and for me something to aspire to. In my life, most of the people who have had a significant impact on my life, or caused me to review my thoughts about life, have been those who are not well known at all. Well known perhaps in their field of endeavour, or through the local community – but not well known or “famous” on a grander scale. Ms Hunter who taught me in Year 4, Mrs DelDot who made marshmallow bunnies every Easter for our community “cent sale”, Mr Norris who worked tirelessly back stage at local dance competitions and followed me down the road to see if I was OK when I fell off my ladder during a performance and ran away crying, Mr Robinson who taught me history with so much wit and humour, the lady at the lolly shop who always had a kind word, the neighbours who let me play in their yard, Lucy Bishop who made the best apricot chicken I have ever tasted and Mrs Bradley who took me on family camping trips and made the best Russian caramel in the world, Mrs Luscombe and Mrs Martin who sewed and sewed and sewed amazing costumes for all our dance shows when we were young and all the volunteers and Mums and Dads at so many community arts groups I grew up attending that brought untold JOY to all those events. My plumber who always does a great job, my building manager who always goes the extra mile, my picture framer who loves a chat and is just fabulous, the owners of the deli I frequent, the waiters at my local cafe, my mechanic,  my stand up paddle boarding teacher, the incredible and diverse participants in my Dance for Parkinsons class, my friends and family who are beyond inspirational in so many ways…….these are the people who have brought magic to my life. The people who have been worth me knowing. The people who have brought real value to my life – and there are so many more too. So I invite you to write your list and see just who matters to you and why? And then face the world emulating these very same qualities – the ones that matter to you. 

So – as you can see from that post – people in all walks of life have incredible versatility and incredible talents and skills that they bring to the table. They make a great coffee, they make good chit chat, they excel in public service, they never give up, they get practical things done, they make your life easier or more enjoyable in some way, they inspire those around them, they have a kind word or a great smile etc etc etc 

I now invite you to figure out just what you bring to the Planet and why it is special and I also invite you to make that list as suggested in the Facebook Post, as you may be really surprised to discover the people who really do matter to you in your life.

And once you discover who really mattered to you, you will no doubt realise that You most likely really matter to someone else.

We all matter.

We all have our special place in the goings on of the Planet.

We all contribute.

And once you figure out how you do this and appreciate You 100% – then the JOY of life will truly descend upon you in a way you can never have imagined before.

Gratitude for You………this should be the real measure of Success!

‪#‎DiscoverYou‬, ‪#‎LoveYou‬ ‪#‎BeYou‬

- Christine -