What an Email from the Post Office Taught Me About Gratitude

I just got a tracking email from the US postal service telling me a package I shipped two days ago has arrived at the post office and will be going out for delivery today.

I felt so grateful as I glanced at this email.

Grateful to live in a place where I can drop a package off and two days later it will be delivered to the recipients doorstep.

Grateful for technology that alerts me to exactly where the package is each time it arrives at a sorting facility or is in a truck.

Grateful for the lady who wanted to purchase the books I had listed on Facebook Marketplace.

Grateful that she trusted me and sent me money via PayPal even though she didn’t know me.

In total awe of what humans are capable of.  I mean, I get an EMAIL letting me know where my package is every time it arrives or leaves a facility.

Then, I flashed back to a medical practitioner I used to work with virtually who hated the postal service.  She lived out of the country and every few months, she shipped me reports.  She was often making comments like “Oh, you can’t trust the US postal service.  With their budget cuts, you never know when or if you’ll get your package.  They’re unreliable.”

I worked with her for 3 years.

Last year, I decided I wouldn't work with her any more.  Looking back, I realize it was at the same time that I was learning about the subconscious mind and working on re-wiring my neural patterns with a tapping method called FasterEFT.

One of the first things I was asked to do as a client in a FasterEFT is close your eyes and envision a “Peace” place.  I remember not being able to do that.  I closed my eyes, envisioned a beautiful beach, and immediately there was trash on the beach and pollution in the water!   After a lifetime of criticism and self-judgment, my subconscious was covered in trash!

So, where am I going with this story? 

Looking back, I can see that I was okay working with a practitioner who complained and often expressed negative opinions because that’s what my brain was wired to be comfortable with.   It was a comfortable place for me to be and anything else was scary.  I wasn’t aware that my thoughts are not ME.  I wasn't sure back then what it meant to love yourself or do self-care.  My thoughts defined me.  I didn't know who I was or how to trust myself.  

I was attracted to work with her back then because of the words she used and the vibe she put off.

And it’s no coincidence that I felt like I didn’t want to work with her anymore after I did work on my thinking patterns.

Now, I actually THINK differently.  I use different words.  What I’m okay with now is different than what I was okay with then.  After years of practicing different patterns of thinking, and changing my awareness, my go-to is gratitude.  And that amazes me! 

Sometimes I still get stuck in negative thinking patterns and don't realize I've made any changes.  Until times like today, when I notice the progress!