The Shift from Gratitude to Honoring

An Inner-World Exploration

Gratitude and honoring each have a different function and they produce different results.

What is the difference between gratitude and honoring and why do we care?

Being grateful focuses our attention

I need to understand gratitude. If we’re all one energy, who am I thanking? Being grateful focuses me, makes me aware of the positive that’s showing up. Gratitude focuses our attention.

What happens when we elevate our gratitude to honoring?

The things I choose to honor seem more vital than the things I’m grateful for. I’m grateful for my mind and I honor its curiosity and wisdom. I’m grateful for my body and I honor the myriad of unseen systems that go into making it work. I’m grateful for my life, that I’m safe and tucked in my old age. And I honor the path that led me here and I especially honor the unseen forces that are guiding me.

Both honoring and gratitude include action

I want to honor my past. I want to honor my present. I want to honor my future. I want to honor the ancestors, the divine feminine, the elements of nature. Honoring is deeper than gratitude. There’s a reverence to it. A respect proffered.

To honor is to respect. To honor is to appreciate. To honor is to care for, perhaps to love. To honor is what I want to be and to have and to express.

Gratitude is more a body-suit energy

The difference between honoring and gratitude may be as simple as the action we take. I may feel gratitude for something. I may even show my appreciation. But I honor it by the reverence and mindfulness of the action I take.

For instance, I feel gratitude for the blessings of life. Gratitude to the blessing of my body. Gratitude to the sun for warmth…

Cultivate the action of honoring

Honor the formation of the present. How it’s gathering in, drawing in, attracting the energies that evolve into the next step, the next idea, the next action. Honor the coming together of the forces into a new shape. the shape-shifting of energy into a new form.

I’m grateful for my mind. I honor it by keeping it stimulated and productive.

I’m grateful for my body. I honor it with the care I give it.

Honor your gifts. Honor your choices. Honor the opportunities you did or didn’t take.

It’s a subtle but distinct difference.

Deeper Song Affirmation

I cultivate the practice of honoring in my life.

Deeper Song Process

Choose something tangible that you’re grateful for. Like your body, or your job or a relationship.
How do you express your gratitude?
How do you honor it?
How do you experience the difference and what does this awareness add to your life?