Coffee and Gratitude

In my mind coffee and gratitude make a good couple and a great start to the day.

Coffee And Gratitude

#1 Morning Rituals

The regular morning rituals we adopt define our day.

For many of us, the morning doesn’t get off to a good start without that first cup of coffee. It’s a ritual. Wake up. Make a cup of coffee. Drink it. Start the day.

Another important ritual that we can add to our morning is a gratitude ritual.

Let the first thing we do in the morning, before we reach for that coffee, be taking a deep breath and becoming present. Then using phrase like “In this moment, I’m grateful…”, give thanks for life, for the day ahead and for anything else that comes to mind including difficult things.

The Jews have a beautiful prayer of gratitude, called the Modeh Ani,to be said as soon as you wake up. Such a universal prayer that we could all use.

I give thanks before you, King living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness!

– Modeh Ani

#2 Savouring

“I decided to really let the coffee sit on my tongue for five seconds.We’re all busy, but I could spare five seconds, and really think about the texture and the acidity and the sweetness.” –  AJ Jacobs author of Thanks A Thousand (affiliate link)

So let’s tweak the coffee ritual a little to make it more meaningful. Wake up. Make a cup of coffee. Savour it. Allow it to work its magic of waking you up. Start the day!

Savouring has a lot to do with gratitude as well.

“Psychologists talk about how gratitude is about taking a moment and holding on to it as long as possible, and slowing down time so that life doesn’t go by in one big blur, as it often does.” –  AJ Jacobs, TED Talk

Slowing down to focus on our breathing, to take in the sights and sounds of the morning, to become aware of our surroundings, is to savour life. We can make this more meaningful by writing down a list of things we’re grateful for at the start of each day

In October, I started writing a series called 31 Days about Living A Principle Driven Life. Since I wasn’t able to complete it then, I’m doing so now. You can follow my posts here.

Gratitude For September

At the start of every month, I look back on the month that has gone by, look at another aspect of gratitude, and share the things that I’m grateful for.

The two things that I’m most grateful for in September :

1. The generosity of friends and strangers – I made an appeal on social for college tutions for two young girls and was overwhelmed by the response. Two young women are set to start their graduate course, because of this.
2. Meeting with animal activists – Regular readers might know that my husband and I are quite passionate about caring for street/ community dogs. It was nice to meet for an evening out with two animal activists and other members of our community. We learnt a lot from this meeting about rights and care.
3. One sweet visitor to my studio – a sweet stray dog has started to visit me each day. She’s very friendly and loves people. Snickers sits around while I’m working. So now I have a house dog and an office dog! Joy!

What are you most grateful for in September?