Can I invite you to join me in singing your thank yous, even when things are hard?

Somedays, following through on the things that we know are best for us is challenging.

Or at least it is for me.

On days when the basics of going for a walk, or a run, requires a full scale battle with the internal critic/editor/protector/saboteur, I turn to using “thank you” as a tool. This tool from my tool box of bite-sized practices allows me to slip past the resistance, not by fighting it, but by surprising it with gratitude.

Thank you to my right foot.

Thank you to my left foot.

Thank you to that internal voice that seeks to protect me, but doesn’t actually know what would lead to the best, free-est future.

If I can change my thoughts, I can move into the actions that help me to step towards what matters most to me.

On one of those runs that required that I speak thank you repeatedly, my experience turned into a song with a simple tune that you probably already know.

Maybe you would like to sing your gratitude as well, and see if it helps you to walk into the way that you want to be too?

Because thank you doesn’t have to come from a place of feeling happy or wanting to dance delight. Thank you can also come from a place of choosing to put one foot in front of another, day after day.

Direct your thank you to yourself — you need to be thanked for showing up again and again. Pat yourself on the back. You are doing the best you can!

Direct your thank you to all those un-thanked parts of your body that keep on doing their work again and again. It’s possible that your hip-flexors and your shoulders are tight, and could use a thank you, a gentle pat, and maybe even a therapeutic massage.

And I would encourage you to thank God, the Divine, for another breath and for the option to step into a future where you allow gratitude to rise up in your everyday activities.