WEEK 1: Gratitude and Letting Go - Day 1

This first week of our Sabbath Experiment begins with a focus on gratitude and letting go. I do not think we can truly have one without the other. Gratitude is not just saying "thank you" for something that makes us feel good. Gratitude comes out of recognition of the gifts that surround us and fill our lives; gifts that have nothing to do with what we have done to deserve them or make them happen. Gratitude, in essence, is a practice of letting go. Letting go is hard. Recognizing the beauty and gifts in our lives that have nothing to do with what we think we deserve is hard. Saying "thank you" and simply receiving these things, is hard. So we begin with little steps.
If you are following the "Choose Your Own Adventure" path, this is all you need to begin. To practice sabbath in your life this week, take time to practice gratitude and letting go. Each day, pay attention to how many things are gifts and have nothing to do with you. Accept those gifts, let go of any need that arises to define, prove, defend, or justify those gifts, and rest in those gifts.

"Daily Order" Path

DAY 1: Create an ongoing list of the gifts in your life. This list will continue through the entire experiment. Make a list with two columns. On one side, list the gift for which you give thanks. On the opposite column, list what you need to let go of to fully embrace that gift. You may find that even one item is all you need to really practice gratitude and letting go this week. Gratitude is a practice of paying attention, not judgment. Pay attention to this gift and, finger by finger, let go of what you need to let go of in order to really rest in that gratitude.

Share the top 3 things you are grateful for in the comments!

i thank You God for most this amazing

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

From e. e. cummings, 100 Selected Poems

Visit: http://youtu.be/axH9A28CTjw or watched embedded video on blog.

WANT MORE?

Visit the Greater Good Science Center for articles, stories, and ideas for practicing gratitude in your life.

David Lose has some great things to say about gratitude too!

Sing!
Music is a gift! Any musician will tell you that there comes a moment when a song, melody, or lyric seems to just come to them. Make a gratitude playlist for yourself full of your favorite "thank you" songs and sing along. The first songs that come to mind for me might get you started on your playlist, but look through your favorite style of music and go from there...

• "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant
• "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold
• "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim (Gratitude naturally moves into praise, but we'll get more into that in the weeks to come.)
• "Thank You" by Dido 
• "Thank You" by Alanis Morissette

Share your favorite gratitude/Thank You songs in the comments!

A Christian song I loved as I child was, "If I Were a Butterfly". I especially recommend this song for parents who want to share the sabbath practice of gratitude with their kids. Don't forget to sing in funny voices together too. Sing this song, or another favorite, with your kids once a day. Before you sing the song, or after, talk together about the gifts of your day and give thanks for those gifts together.

Visit: http://youtu.be/jADW23Wfiy8 or watch embedded video on blog.