I hope this finds you incredibly well, having enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving!
As many of you know, 2014 was a rather interesting year for me. Suffice it to say that there had been many times this year when I shook my fist at the divine and thought in a less than gracious way. Why? Because I could not understand how someone like me, who had seemingly done everything in her power to be healthy, would be faced with a significant health issue at 49 years of age. At those times, I was feeling anything BUT grateful. My focus was elsewhere. This was clearly not the “me” that I was before it all started. It was obvious to me that I needed to re-shift my attention (like so many of us who are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives). For gratitude to meet its full healing potential in my life, I needed to change my perspective―and pronto.
And the shift began. . I had to RE-learn my way of looking at things (I was actually VERY happy with my life before and did have a solid gratitude habit). I needed to re-establish this habit, only even stronger. And while that can often take some time, I needed to do it quickly. My life depended on it.
Once I changed my perspective back to my old one, I began to realize once again everything I had to be grateful for. I thank God for my wonderful husband, family and friends who supported me through this experience, the Doctors and nurses who helped me to a miraculous recovery, a business that provides with the opportunity to do the work I love with people I love to work with, and a future which so bright I need to wear sunglasses (or maybe that’s the FL sunshine :-).
Gratitude is more than just a Thanksgiving word. The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster rate of recovery from surgery.
That’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.
Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.
There are many things to be grateful for: colorful autumn leaves, legs that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, fresh eggs, warm jackets, tomatoes, the ability to read, roses, our health, butterflies.
What’s on your list?
Some Ways to Practice Gratitude
Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly or monthly lists. The more you can write about the people and things for which you are grateful, the better. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in a grateful way.
Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.
Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.