Tag: attitude of gratitude

SO YOU THINK YOU ARE GRATEFUL? 🙏

This is an interesting thought. So many people are talking about gratitude and its power to change life. What is ironic is that most people have an interesting definition of what gratitude really is. This was brought home when I was listening to the audiobook, The Magic by Rhonda Byrne the other morning. She said how if people asked her years ago if she was a grateful person she would have told them that she was. Her justification for that answer is that she always thanked people for a gift, or for opening the door for her. When we speak of gratitude here, or when you hear about the power of gratitude, it is far more than that.

Despite what we may have been told growing up, or even what we think currently, thanking people when they do nice things for us is not living gratefully. It is actually just really good manners. There is nothing wrong with that. If we want to discover the true power of gratitude, it has to involve more than that. True gratitude cannot be conditional. A few posts back we discussed how I was choosing to focus on what I had to be grateful for in my life despite the challenges I have currently been experiencing. In doing so, it has help me feel good and enjoy my life so much more. That is the power of gratitude.

How about you? Are you only grateful when conditions give you something to be grateful for? Here is a secret. There is always a condition to be grateful for. Gratitude, like much of life, is a decision. When you want to feel grateful, just look around. There are so many things in our life that we take for granted that we should be so grateful for. Our health for one. Going to work on a Monday morning can be tough, but doing so with a cold is even tougher. We can dread work or be thankful we do not have to deal with a cold while working. Things like sanitation, communication, entertainment choices we have, clean water, a place to live and a million other things. One of the best ways to appreciate things you take for granted is to have them taken away from you. It is rare you will hear someone who used to be homeless complaining about the color of their kitchen walls.

Even in the terrible situation of losing something, we can be grateful that it is bringing to our attention things we might have taken for granted. Even that is something to be grateful for. Here is another secret to an amazing life. Feeling grateful feels amazing! The more we feel grateful, the better the quality of our life will be. Do yourself a favor and start to work on developing an attitude of gratitude today!

WHEN HAPPINESS COMES 😊

So much is made of gratitude in today’s world, and on this blog quite honestly. The funny thing is, with the power of gratitude talked about on whatever media you happened to be enjoying, less people than ever seem to be practicing it. Perhaps it is too simple of an idea to grab the attention of a world that has new technology appearing daily. It could be the amount of advertising that we see encouraging us to seek, buy and strive for more. While there is nothing wrong with wanting better for yourself, focusing solely on that will leave you feeling poor and in a state of lack. When we focus on what we don’t have, that is what we will feel. When you think about it, isn’t life how we feel? If we are happy, life is good. If we are unhappy, life seems gloomy and hopeless.

After reading and contemplating the words above, one question pops into our minds. “How can we be happy more often and therefore making our life better?”. The answer should be obvious. Foster an attitude of gratitude. There is always something to be grateful for. Even if our life is seemingly becoming a dumpster fire, we can be grateful for troubles we do not have. That is the power of the first quote. Although every life has its share of challenges and troubles, we can be grateful for those troubles we do not have. How can we do this? The answer was brought to my attention is the most unlikely of places.

I was trying to get the motivation to go to the gym after a long 10 hour work day. I saw a video from the late Greg Plitt. He was great at motivating others into a life of health and fitness. It was titled “Burnout”. Thinking this was perfect, I hit ‘play’. What I did not expect was the powerful message and change in perception that followed. He said if you are ever feeling like you are burnt out and can’t take any more, just go to your local hospital. Walk through the cancer ward and look at a 4-year old who has cancer and may not see 5. Talk to a soldier who just came back from war and may be missing a leg. Look them in the eye and tell them you are feeling burnt out and can’t go on. Wow! Even thinking about that made me realize how lucky I have it.

This is not to advocate ignoring self-care, or pushing beyond your limits. It is to show the power of gratitude can allow us to continue even when we feel like we have no more left in the tank. Yes, I did include the same quote twice in a row. No, that wasn’t a mistake. It is such a good message, I thought we should all reflect on it again. When I say that we all should use the power of gratitude more often, I am including myself. It is all too easy to get caught up focusing on what is wrong in our life instead of what is right. At any given time, they are both available. Spend as little as 5 minutes a day focusing on everything you have to be grateful for in your life and I promise you a week from now your life will be dramatically improved and you will be so much happier.

To close out, please share one thing that you are grateful for in your life. Let us all celebrate together.