I use Instagram to pause, say thanks, and be delighted. And I often post pictures of my view on Instagram.
I’ll look out the window, marvel at what I see, take a picture, and write My Morning View #gratitude.
Or My Afternoon View #gratitude or My Evening View #gratitude. You get the idea.
I love what I see looking out onto downtown Ann Arbor. The weather is always changing and every view is different and spectacular in its own way.
Then came the hesitation
But after over four years of Instagramming these images of my view with gratitude as the hashtag, I noticed a few weeks ago that I hesitated. Not in taking the photo. Not in wanting to share it. But I hesitated in using gratitude as the hashtag.
At first I didn’t know why… And then I realized what was going on.
I realized the feeling of appreciation has a very different vibration for me than the feeling of gratitude. The feeling of appreciation is so much more high vibe. Much more energetic. And much more aligned with how I was really feeling.
And I thought, Well isn’t that interesting.
“Appreciation is the purest vibration on the planet today.” —Abraham
Splitting hairs or…
The dictionary considers these two words synonyms, so you could say I’m splitting hairs. I know a lot of us use these two words interchangeably. I certainly did until very recently.
Is there really a difference between appreciation and gratitude?
My vibration says, Yes, Jennifer, there’s a difference. You can feel it.
But what exactly is that difference? I wasn’t really sure.
So I looked to Abraham to find out. And it turns out in relation to the emotion of appreciation vs. attitude of gratitude, Abraham says, “We don’t feel the same vibrational essence in them at all.”
“When you feel gratitude often you are looking at a struggle that you’ve overcome and feeling grateful, in other words happy, that you’re still not in the struggle, but you’re still messing with that vibration just a little bit.” —Abraham
Appreciation and gratitude
When I heard that, a light went on.
Because being grateful for my view really did have a little friction in it for me. Struggle is far too strong a word, but friction fits.
And here’s why: For several years Hans and I lived in a wonderful house in Ann Arbor that had so much to offer, but really didn’t have views that uplifted me.
So when I’m looking out my window now, and feeling very much uplifted by what I see, framing that as being grateful has a bit of residue. A residue of comparison. A residue of the past.
By saying I’m grateful for what I’m seeing NOW, there’s some attention in my vibration, very subtle but it’s there, to what I’ve “overcome”—meaning those lesser views in the past.
In relation to my view, here’s the vibrational difference between gratitude and appreciation: Gratitude is mixing in what I’ve “overcome”. Appreciation isn’t.
The vibration of gratitude
Let’s take this beyond the view from my window.
- I’m grateful I no longer work there.
- I’m grateful we got through that rough patch.
- I’m grateful my test results came back OK.
- I’m grateful our finances are improving.
- I’m grateful I let go of that resentment.
In each of these, notice there’s attention to what’s been overcome in the vibration.
It’s like saying, Oh, I’m so grateful I’m not over there anymore. Well, guess what? You’ve just included “over there” in your current vibration.
My point is: Gratitude often has something unexpected in its vibration.
Abraham says when someone is speaking of gratitude, they’re often speaking of some difficulty they’ve overcome—and the difficulty part is still dominate in their vibration. Maybe not in their words, but in their vibration.
Now this isn’t always the case. And that may not be how you’re using the word gratitude. Only you know what your own vibration is.
I was certainly surprised when I hesitated around the word gratitude, and then realized gratitude has something mixed in with the vibration that’s not nearly as high vibe for me as appreciation.
Inspiration vs. motivation
As I was trying to untangle this in my own mind, here’s a distinction that helped me understand the difference at a deeper level. Abraham says there’s a similar difference between an emotion of appreciation vs. attitude of gratitude and inspiration vs. motivation.
Let’s unpack that.
Inspiration is you’re being called to who you are vs. motivation, which is trying to make yourself go somewhere. Being called vs. making yourself. Pretty big vibrational difference, right?
I imagine we’ve all experienced that distinction: Inspiration versus motivation.
Because when you’re feeling inspired to act, there’s no holding you back. But when you’re trying to motivate yourself to act, there’s often resistance and friction.
“The Universe is responding to your vibration, and your vibration is about the way you feel.” —Abraham
Now, my emotional frequency related to these words may be different from yours. Abrahams says, “Words don’t matter, but vibration does.”
- Someone might say, I’m so grateful for my health, but their vibration very much has the residue of a recent health scare.
- Whereas I could say, I’m so grateful for my health and my vibration is neutral.
- And then you could say, I so appreciate my health or I so appreciate my Well-Being, and your vibration is off the charts. It’s high vibe.
Which means you’re on a frequency to attract all kinds of high-vibe people, situations, events, circumstances, and things into your life.
Me with my neutral vibe, not so much.
And the person who said I’m so grateful for my health, but their vibration is one that still has the residue of fear and worry, then that’s what they’re attracting more of. Fear and worry. Not good health.
The Universe cannot be fooled, because it’s dealing with you on a vibrational level, period.” —Abraham
It’s not the words you say
Whatever you’re feeling is what you are in terms of your receiving mode.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s what you’re in the receiving mode of. If you’re feeling worry, then that’s what you’re in the receiving mode of.
There is no value in using happy-sounding words if you do not feel happy. The Law of Attraction is not responding to your words, but instead, is responding to the vibrations that are radiating from you.” —Manifest Your Desires
For me, I’ve noticed appreciation puts me in a different receiving mode than gratitude. It creates a different vibrational attitude.
Appreciation feels like unconditional alignment to me. There’s absolutely no resistance.
“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.” —Alan Cohen
I want you to feel for yourself whether there’s a difference between appreciation and gratitude.
Between the emotion of appreciation and attitude of gratitude. Between the practice of appreciation and the practice of gratitude.
Feel for yourself.
If there’s a difference between these two concepts for you, I encourage you to do a little vibrational fine-tuning.
“The Universe is not punishing you or blessing you. The Universe is responding to the vibrational attitude that you are emitting.” —Abraham
By the way, in case you’re wondering—Yes! My Instagram views now have the hashtag appreciation!
