We can always count on the fact that life changes every day. Things are constantly shifting. Babies are born, people die. We gain, we lose. There are positives and negatives that affect us as we move through our lives. One thing we can certainly maintain through all this change is how we treat others – with respect, dignity, appreciation, and gratitude.
Appreciation & Gratitude
Every day Hoffman offers an appreciation and gratitude practice on Instagram. It started as a way to help people get through the initial phase of lockdown/quarantine/“Stay Home” at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us were knocked off our routines. Some of us were left with nothing to do. Others of us were working our tails off trying to figure out how to serve our clientele virtually. Over time, we adjusted.
Throughout that adjustment period, Hoffman steadily offered the appreciation and gratitude practice every day. Why? Because this is one of the most important things we can do to maintain our respect, dignity, appreciation, and gratitude of others when the world suddenly shifts. Saying “Thank You” is a simple phrase, and sometimes it’s hard to remember to say it.
Saying “Thank You”
Creating the habit of saying “thank you” is as easy as saying it each time someone gives you a compliment, or holds the door for you. Perhaps someone lets you go ahead of them in the grocery store line because you have one item. That is a kindness that I don’t see often, but I am pleased when I witness it. That person doesn’t have to let you go ahead of them, and saying thank you acknowledges that person’s thoughtfulness and spirit-to-spirit interaction.
As we move through our days, acknowledging others with compassion and respect will, in turn, help us to have compassion and respect toward ourselves. Along with the appreciation and gratitude practice on Instagram, Hoffman offers a daily Quadrinity Check-In. This is another practice wherein we get to be thankful – to our body, emotional self, intellect, and Spirit. When we are in alignment within, we can be in alignment with the outside world. And for this, we can all be thankful.