Five years ago, I went through an awful breakup.
Without any warning, this person pulled the rug from under me and ended our relationship. It was one of the toughest breakups ever.
I was internally a mess for weeks, and faked normalcy whenever I left the house. I lost weight from the stress and heartache. I wasn't myself, and I was sad. I wanted to crumple up and hide until this dark cloud passed.
One of my best friends Angie, who was also my roommate, comforted me and let me cope in the way I needed to (i.e. didn't judge me for going to sleep at 8 pm every night and didn't take it personally that I wasn't very talkative). She was and is to this day, AMAZING.
One morning, after sleeping in super late (on a work day), I received an email from her. She came across a job opportunity in my field that would be a huge career move for me. Feeling a glimmer of hope and needing something new to focus on, I reached out to the hiring manager and dove into the interview process.
Going after this new job gave me a new burst of energy. I started to bounce back from this dark place I was in and was excited to move forward with this opportunity.
While life (seemed) to suck badly lately, I realized I had so much to be grateful for. I had amazing family and friends and opportunities surrounding me. Arriving at this new place of awareness, this light through the darkness, I started a new daily (spiritual) exercise to keep this momentum of gratitude going.
Every night before I went to sleep, I thought of 5 things that were good about that day. It could be anything big or small, but the recognition of it alone created positive energy. Whether a baby smiled at me, someone complimented my outfit, or I met a friend for coffee – anything even slightly awesome – I would write it down.
After doing this exercise every day for a few weeks, something changed. I changed. I started to become more energized and ready to take life on passionately, as I always had before. I felt stronger than ever and knew that much abundance was coming…
And, that dark cloud moved out of the way.
This new daily practice anchored me in the present. I was no longer focused on what happened or went wrong, or worried too much about what was to come, either. I had a newfound positivity in being present and mindful of all the goodness around me.
Let's face it - every single day is a blessing. And five years ago when I thought my world came crashing down, I learned to focus on the things we may take for granted. I woke up to the amazing life I already had and created more awareness in myself than I ever experienced before.
After a grueling interview process, and about three months later, I landed that career-changing job. And about three years after that, I fell in love with Lou. And guess what: I MET him at that job – but I'll save that serendipitous story for another time ;)
No matter what's not perfect in your life right now, what are you grateful for today?