How Gratitude Creates Abundance

I didn’t understand *gratitude* before I experienced eating disorder recovery.

Gratitude used to feel like an obligatory “thank you,” something I’d be forced to say as a child after receiving a *meh* gift from a relative who doesn’t know me. Though the “say ‘thank you’” parenting move is well-meaning, it also distorts the meaning of gratitude for the child. One of the beliefs it instilled was “I need to GET something in order to be grateful.” There is nothing wrong with having gratitude for new things that come into our lives, but the life-changing gratitude everyone is talking about starts by finding a sliver of authentic appreciation for the things that are already present in our lives. What am I *actually* grateful for in this moment? My breath. Watching the clouds move. My loving family and friends.

People who have had near-death experiences are gratitude experts because they’ve had a tangible reminder that this life is temporary. No one owes us anything. My entire existence is a gift that was given to me. I love remembering that I’m going to die someday, because it reminds me to take the little worries of life less seriously and the little delights of life more seriously. Having this lighter perspective has only come through facing my own shadows in the process of recovery. It confronted me with every single one of my demons—the aspects of myself I suppressed at all costs, the fears I had of being disliked and abandoned, the feeling of being eternally alone. It put me in a position where I had to choose to either believe the darkness or shine a light on it. Recovery meant deciding to embrace all of myself, accept life on life’s terms, and humbly returns to a state of childlike awe and wonder at the gift that this life is.

This is the reason I wrote “Fed Up,” because the journey of dismantling my disordered relationship with food has been my return to truth, playfulness, and authentic gratitude. If this resonates with you, I’d love to share more of my story with you (the preorder link is in my bio).

I love you and I’m grateful to be here with you.

Love,
Katie