The Incredible Power of Gratitude
As 2019 draws to a close, I find myself looking back on the year that is ending and on the many things and people I have to be grateful for. I am truly grateful for the amazing personal journey I’ve experienced growing and developing alongside the incredible Yellow Brick Cinema community.
Back in 2013, if anyone had asked me if I ever imagined I’d be part of a YouTube channel and especially such a successful one, I might well have had a good chuckle at the idea. I am not a very technologically minded person at the best of times and still need to rely on some very patient friends and family to talk me through the basics.
I had the blessing in 2013 that my dear friend Roche, a brilliant musician who very sadly passed away in 2018, had a vision. He saw that together we could create something special. As musicians, we shared a passion for music and its power to bring healing and transformation to people’s lives. Roche saw that we could combine this love of music with my passion to help, motivate and heal people through teaching yoga, meditation and sharing various tools I use as a life coach. We soon realised that by combining our strengths and passions we could use the healing power of music to reach out to so many people using YouTube as a platform.
From humble beginnings, initially working out of a room in my home with primitive equipment, we developed Yellow Brick Cinema into a world leader in relaxing music. I am humbled and deeply grateful to be part of something that has touched so many peoples’ lives and become truly meaningful to our subscribers.
Yellow Brick Cinema has shaped and guided me now for almost 7 years and it has changed my life. I have the opportunity every day to continue growing personally through giving to other people all around the world. This inspires me and I love reading and responding to the many comments I get from subscribers every day. We have recently launched this website and next year we have plans to develop this significantly as well as reach out to more people on social media, to grow our wonderful Yellow Brick Cinema community.
I want to thank you, our subscribers and viewers, for the kindness and support you have given me and Yellow Brick Cinema. I am grateful for your connection and the community we have. I would also like to share my gratitude for the team behind the running of our channel - it’s an enormous amount of work and many different talents go into producing our music videos.
I am grateful too for the beautiful music that I get to listen to as I write, bringing me a calm focus. Our composers are so talented and are carrying on with the same passion that Roche had. My favourite go-to track which is also one that lifts my mood if I’m ever feeling down, is linked below.
How Gratitude Can Positively Impact Your Life
When we choose to take the time to be mindful of the many things, people and events in our lives, the good and also the challenging ones, we manifest virtues that are inherently in all of us. These are humility, generosity, compassion, wisdom, joy, integrity and trust. Living with these virtues, we naturally open doors, energetically inviting in positive feelings and events to our lives.
Robert Emmons writes; “Gratitude is the way the heart remembers kindness, cherished interactions with others, compassionate actions of strangers, surprise gifts and everyday blessings. By remembering, we honour and acknowledge the many ways in which who and what we are has been shaped by others, both living and dead.”
It is no wonder that studies show practicing gratitude leads to improved health and well-being, better sleep, more exercise, increased positive emotions, quicker progress toward personal goals and a tendency to help others more often. On top of those benefits, write Dr Emmons and Joanna Hill, grateful people elicit more support from others, cope better, have better health and are socially more adaptable.
I love that gratitude is something we can choose to practice in every moment of our lives. It’s accessible to everyone - no tools or training required. In any given moment, if we can allow the time to be mindful and make a choice of gratitude, we allow positive energy to flow, thereby changing not just our own life for the better, but countless others too. This multiplies through the ripple effect that gratitude has on everyone we connect with and they in turn.
What are you grateful for? I encourage you to take a few moments to write down what you’re grateful for and why, and allow yourself to enjoy the feelings this exercise brings. Love, Margie.