The Dark side of Gratitude

Gratitude is a very popular and now mainstream form of practice that is proposed by many practitioners and healers. And although it is extremely powerful, as any tool can be, it can also have adverse effects when not used correctly.

What do I mean by that?The wrong way of doing it is when you:

  • Use gratitude as an escape from your actual reality and emotions
  • Use gratitude as one more “must do” in your life
  • Use gratitude as a quick fix that becomes addiction and self-punishment
  • Use gratitude as a panacea thinking that this is the only thing that will make your life better

Again, gratitude is a tool, and it’s effectiveness will depend on

  • whether you use it correctly
  • the intention you set when practicing it
  • what you want to achieve
  • you are also healing yourself or dealing with what is underneath

If you are not clear then gratitude will take you to a place and then keep you stuck to the same patterns, same beliefs and same ways of being. Which means SAME results!

And when you feel you have tried hard but you haven’t gotten the results, usually you’ll get disappointed and feel you are broken in some way.

So…Next time you go back to your gratitude practice, make sure you ask yourself: What do I want to create with this?
Is there something I’m trying to escape from by doing this?
What is the next step?

Remember: Tools are effective when you know how and when to use them!

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