Maintain an Attitude of Gratitude
“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is important. Be grateful for the things you have. Consider every day Thanksgiving. This list should be a dynamic list, you should review the things you are grateful for and keep them close to you. This is an exercise you have to perform every day, perhaps from the list you now make or perhaps from what is on that given day in your mind, preferably you will have a written list and always be able to add to that based on current circumstances in your life.
Expressing your gratitude is not only good for the soul, it is good for your body. When you are in a state of gratitude, your body actually secretes oxytocin, oxygenation to tissues is increased, healing is improved, and stress is reduced. Gratitude actually impacts the electric activity around the heart and brain, improving their functions.
” Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful. ” — Buddha
Think of the things you are grateful for, large or small. Are you grateful for certain members of your family, for your good health, for friends, for help you received, for your possessions? Make a list of the things you are grateful for. It will make you smile; it will make you appreciate even the little things.
Sometimes it is the little things that we are most grateful for on a daily basis. Giving thanks needs to become part of your daily routine, some people remind themselves of this with a list, some with talismans like rocks, necklaces, rings, whatever it is that reminds you each day to give thanks. This is akin to always carrying your lucky penny, a rabbits foot, a rosary, prayer beads, bracelet, whatever it is that makes you remember to be grateful each day.
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”— William Arthur Ward
An example, my daily ritual consists of putting on my jewelry; I have a ring from my son, earrings from my daughter, a necklace from my husband, and a watch I acquired after a successful business deal. Each time I put my jewelry I am reminded to give thanks for my family and for my successes, large or small.
Gratitude is one of the key steps toward positive thinking and living. If you want to have infinite vision, you must first be able to be grateful for what you have, even for what you don’t have. Gratefulness is not supplication, it is not gushing, grovelling or in any way negative. That’s fantastic, isn’t it? When you are grateful you absolutely cannot be negative. The two do not go together. When you truly focus on what you are grateful for you cannot, in that same instant, be negative.
“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”—Friedrich Nietzsche
There is a caveat here, you have to be fully grateful. Don’t let any “buts” come into your grateful moments. You do not want to say, “I am grateful for this but…” You are grateful, period, no questions, no wishes, and no qualifiers.
You need to keep your gratitude fresh. Don’t let it become boring, make it a daily challenge to come up with three new or different little things you are grateful for. It’s fun, it’s positive, and it’s a good morning brain exercise.
A Simple Thank You
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”— Oprah Winfrey
You should not even have to think about saying thank you. It should be ingrained, it should be something you say when someone does something for you, gives something to you, helps you or is just someone you love.
It is easy to say thank you when you are with someone, it is quick, and it is effortless. But what about saying thank you to strangers, saying thank you to customer service representatives, to people who provide valuable information or entertainment on the Internet, to strangers that have somehow impacted your life.
Get into the habit of writing short thank you notes. If you are online a lot, get into the habit of thanking people online. Write thank you notes or answer the survey from the customer service department where you called for help. I can’t count the number of times I have found a free program that has helped me immensely, used it, and never thanked the creator. I read things daily or watch videos that inspire me, but I don’t take the time to write a quick thank you or a comment saying how much I appreciate it.
Cultivate the habit of thanking people right away, writing thank you notes or emails the minute you think of it. If you wait, you will forget and then, saying your thanks becomes a chore instead of a blessing. Say thank you and say it now. Don’t think “wow, I am grateful,” without combining that with a thank you to the person who has made you thankful.
How many times have you closed the door on dinner guests, held a door open, bought something and thought, “They didn’t even say thank you.” Doesn’t it irritate you just a bit?
I am polite, it was ingrained in me from an early age. I can’t and don’t want to stop being polite so I hold doors open, let people go in front of me in line when I know I will take a lot more time than them. I almost always smile at strangers on the street and I give up my seat for elderly people on the bus. I don’t do this for the thanks, I do it because it is common politeness. Sometimes people thank me and sometimes not, but when they thank me, or smile back at me, it makes me feel good.
A thank you is a gift, not only to the person you are thanking, but to yourself. When you say thank you, you are adding one more thing to be grateful for to your life, a good thing in and of itself. When you thank someone, they know you appreciate their effort, that you appreciate them.
It is good for you to be grateful and it is good for your relationships if you appreciate people and let them know it. A thank you can brighten someone’s day, a thank you can inspire someone to do more, it can cement a relationship, it can change someone’s outlook.
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust
A thank you is actually even better than a compliment, of course, you can do both, it certainly can’t hurt. But a genuine thank you says that you value what the person has done. I will take a thank you any time over a compliment. Compliments are fleeting, “You did a good job”. Contrast that with, “You did a good job. Thank you!” Which makes you feel better?
THANK YOU! It is so simple. Say it, live it, it is hard to be negative and even harder to be unhappy when you are grateful for even the smallest of things that come your way.
Gratitude is acknowledgement, it is awareness, and it is a source of joy and strength for all who embrace the attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is a gentle but powerful source of power. It keeps you aware of all the things you have in life, the gifts that have been bestowed upon you by God, the Universe, your family, friends, nature, society, the whole world that is around you and within you.
” Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.”—Buddha
Gratitude is energy, it is a force, it cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed and it builds inner strength and power. Gratitude connects you with power, it is not only uplifting but it is a source of inspiration and brings you closer to God and the Universe.
Gratitude is liberation; it is a statement to yourself, to others, to God, the saints, your Supreme Being, that you acknowledge your blessings. Great religious leaders through the ages have expressed the necessity for gratitude. The Bible is filled with prayers of gratitude. Almost every religion and philosophy extols the virtues and benefits of gratitude.
It is impossible to be unhappy when you are in a state of gratitude. Try it. It simply does not work. Gratitude costs nothing but pays off by the score. If you wake up each morning and think of all the things you are grateful for (some days it may not be much), I guarantee you will have a nice day. I woke up this morning and was grateful that the sun was shining – it was enough.
This is pretty simple, make a list right now of the things you are grateful for, remember that you can always give thanks for the big things, your family, your house, your friends…but each day you will have little things you will be grateful for. Saying thank you, being grateful for what you have is one of the necessary steps in being more positive, in starting your day, in moving toward realizing infinite vision.
Remember, gratefulness is dynamic, you may be grateful every day for the most important things in your life, but what about the little things. Each day, you will find you are grateful for different things, for the weather, for your car starting, for hearing a special song, seeing a special person, for having hot water in the shower, for that first cup of coffee in the morning.
Life gives us lots of little gifts to be grateful for each day, and some big gifts we are thankful for regardless of how bleak a given day may be. Whether you thank the Universe, God, or other people, being in a state of gratitude will make you feel good.
Keep a gratitude journal; you might be surprised at all the things you have to give thanks for. A gratitude journal is an excellent way to keep yourself positive and remember all the good things in your life. Think of a few things each day you are grateful for.
SEEBEDO Your Gratitude
SEE all the things in the world you are grateful for, large and small.
BE grateful, be polite, be kind.
DO give thanks each day and show people you are grateful.