Recently, I wrote a blog on gratitude vs. appreciation for a client and what I learned was startling. It started with something I heard in an Abraham Hicks audio clip. Abraham said that appreciation offered a higher vibrational frequency than gratitude. So I wanted to investigate why. Here is what I found.

Gratitude

Feeling grateful for something or someone is not always associated with positive things. For example, you could be grateful that you have gotten over a cold or you have found a solution to a work problem. Gratitude implies conquering of something and overcoming. Therefore, gratitude is not based on pure positive emotion. The underlying component is fear, not love. Abraham hammered this idea home by saying “most of you are grateful for something negative leaving your experience.

Gratitude also evokes the feeling that you are “less than” and subservient to God/The Universe and should be thankful for whatever tragedy was avoided or ended. Although gratitude does elevate your frequency, it sounds more like relief than joy to me.

I feel that that being thankful for whatever meager improvement you receive is just not good enough. I want more of a spiritual benefit.

Appreciation

Appreciation is so much more. Thoroughly enjoying, and recognizing all the positives that someone or something has brought into your life experience is what appreciation is all about. When you feel appreciation, you are mindfully thankful without focusing on the negatives. Appreciation is alignment with source energy and offers the highest vibrational frequency equal to love.

I was thinking about it, and I realized I do know the difference. Sometimes I feel grateful when an ache or pain goes away. But when I look at my new kitten and bask in all that she is and what she offers to me and my life, I feel pure joy, love, and appreciation for her. It’s an entirely different feeling.

Use Appreciation for Spiritual Benefit

I have kept a gratitude journal for a very long time, and I keep adding to it. Now, however, I am going to revisit the idea of an appreciation journal. I want to examine every item on my gratitude list and see why I put it there, is it fear-based or love. Then I can craft a new, clean appreciation list and get an even more spiritual benefit by diving into those feelings of joy, happiness, and appreciation without anything negative getting in the way. For more positive outcomes, embrace appreciation and limit the gratitude!