Gratitude Is Not a Feeling, It’s a Practice
- Gogo_Noma
- Sep 26
- 3 min read
“Gratitude is not something we wait to feel — it’s something we choose to practice, even when the heart is heavy.”
Gogo_Noma
Thokozani Badimo Child
Gratitude Beyond Emotion
There was a time when I thought gratitude meant waiting for the right feeling to rise up in me. You know that warm, overflowing sense of thankfulness that comes when life feels good and things are going well? I thought that was gratitude.
But life has shown me differently. Gratitude is not about waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect season, or the perfect answer to prayer. Gratitude is about choosing to recognize what is already present — even when it doesn’t look like what I imagined. It is a discipline, a daily turning of the heart.
Lessons From Silence
For me, this realization did not come in a time of ease. It came in the silence. In the pauses where I felt disconnected from myself, my community, even from Spirit.
At first, I carried shame in that silence. I thought stepping back meant I had failed. But with reflection, I came to see the truth: pauses are not failures. They are sacred invitations. Moments of rest. Spaces of preparation. And when I finally looked back at those moments through the lens of gratitude, I realized they had been gifts all along.
Gratitude as a Way of Seeing
Gratitude is not a passing emotion. It is a way of seeing. It is the practice of counting blessings one by one — not to deny the weight of our struggles, but to remind ourselves that the story is never just darkness.
Even in pain, there are lessons.
Even in loss, there are seeds.
Even in silence, there is a song waiting to rise.
No Failures, Only Lessons
Practicing gratitude has taught me that there are no failures, only teachers. Every stumble is a lesson, every delay is redirection, every disappointment is preparing me for something my spirit already knows I need. Gratitude shifted the gaze from why me? to thank you for shaping me.
The Transforming Power of Gratitude
And here is the most powerful part: when gratitude becomes a practice, it transforms how we show up in the world.
It softens resentment, heals comparison, and grounds us in the present moment.
It reminds us that joy does not come from what we are waiting to receive, but from what we already carry.
So no, gratitude is not a feeling. Feelings come and go. Gratitude is a practice. It is a choice. It is the daily act of saying: I see the blessing here, even if it’s small. I honor the lesson here, even if it’s hard. I thank life, I thank spirit, I thank my ancestors, I thank my journey — because all of it is shaping me into the best version of myself.
Living in Thankfulness
When you shift gratitude from feeling to practice, you stop chasing the perfect moment to be thankful. Instead, you live in thankfulness. And that, I believe, is where healing truly begins.
How are you Practicing gratitude Badimo Child. Leave your story in the comments section below, I would love to hear and learn from you.
October is my season to say Thank you.
You Are Invited
Explore the classroom on all social media platforms — this is a season to unlearn, remember, and realign. One lesson at a time.
Until next time,
I am Gogo_Noma and this is Learning with Noma.
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