You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink
~ G.K. Chesterton
In this happy space, I am thrilled to touch on a subject that is nearest and dearest to my heart: Gratitude
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Gratitude has revolutionized my life. It has transformed the way that I feel about looking at and really living life.
Years ago, I had been desperately searching for happiness. I was upset at every turn when happy events, great opportunities, and joy-filled people did not present themselves to me. I’d had quite a few episodes of not only horrific luck but also devastating circumstances that left me in a sad state. Oh, how I longed for happiness. What I didn’t grasp was that gratitude was the solution to the dire need I felt for a positive change in my life! Perhaps I was like you: a grateful person, yet not with deliberate intention. I didn’t feel I had the emotional capability to be thankful, nor the knowledge to realize that gratitude was the path – one I was most perfectly able to take.
See, when you live in gratitude intentionally, the world falls at your feet with an array of opportunities, the heavens spilling out blessings all around you and showering you with unexpected opportunities for joy. Being actively grateful breeds positive meetings and joyful circumstances and new beginnings.
When you finally become aware of everything that surrounds you – of everything you have… everything that God has already given to you – a key is placed in your hand that will open the greatest of locks. Simply turn the key, and unlock your happiness. Triumphantly pass through this door that has been closed for so long, and walk into a life of gratitude and success. It sounds a lot more New Age than it is, really! What gratitude is, instead, is the only way to enjoy our spins around the sun, dear friend. This is the way to happiness.
So, What is Gratitude?
Yes, gratitude is an appreciation for what you already have, but it’s so much more than that! Gratitude is a feeling, an emotion, an attitude. The attitude of recognizing a benefit or a blessing received or one that you are going to receive? THAT is what I like to call Miss Gratitude. She is a great friend to hold close. She is generous and will give and give over and over again, without end. When you are thankful for something that you have not yet received, you are using the power of faith together with gratitude and it is such an amazing height in happiness to achieve: Gratitude for the abundance received is your best guarantee for it to continue and, well, as we all know, faith moves mountains!
Studies have found that intentionally grateful people:
Feel more positive and proactive than others are more relaxed. Have lower blood pressure are more alert, alive and awake. Are satisfied with their lives and relationshipsMaintain better control of their circumstances are more generous, helpful, compassionate and forgivingAccept themselves in a healthy waySleep better and feel more refreshed
Grateful people also deal with difficulties in a more positive manner by truly embracing the learning factor they have gained from their experiences. They tend to solve problems rapidly without becoming bitter or dwelling on the “how to”. They focus on results, not on the problem, and challenge it as an opportunity to grow and strengthen.
It is said that gratitude is related to mental health, and studies have shown that grateful people are much happier. Studies say that grateful people do not know or entertain depression nor sadness.
After all, gratitude blocks negative emotions that can destroy our happiness. We can not feel jealousy and gratitude at the same time. We just can’t.
Gratitude keeps us in the present and allows us to appreciate everything that we have right now. By appreciating more, we take less for granted.
Want to know a secret to becoming an intentionally grateful person? Write “notes of gratitude” to the important people in your life. Out of the blue and/or directly following an event, you are thankful for – it doesn’t matter! This produces great joy in the hearts of those who receive it, generating a feeling of genuine contentment for you and, of course, for them. Win, win.
How about beginning a gratitude journal? So many successful people are religious about writing down what they’re thankful for every day. It offers a time of reflection, meditation, and true gratitude for what you already have in life. I so enjoy writing in mine! Every day when I am having my morning coffee, I begin to count my blessings out loud and, at night, I’ll review and reflect on what went well, what I might try differently next time, and I write it all down. This gratitude practice allows me to sleep in peace, being ever-thankful to God for the gift of this day I was given.
You can do the same. Try it! You will notice radical changes in your life. When good things happen to you, however small, shout for joy to God (or whisper, if you like) and say: “Thank you!”
When fear knocks at your door, allow your faith to open it. Gratitude transforms situations. It changes negative energy into positive energy and your surroundings will automatically change into happy spaces! Gratitude has the vibrational frequency of the Universe. The more gratitude we vibrate, the more things to be grateful for we’ll get back.
As Winston Churchill used to say: “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
When you change the paradigm and give thanks, everything changes for good and that is what we call the gift of gratitude. When you find yourself complaining, STOP! and instead, choose to say “thank you”…
My faith is strong, and I believe that God places a rainbow in every cloud. And although your situation may seem dark, as was mine, God will shine His light upon it and gift us a solution. When you are in gratitude mode, you will see that everything changes and each situation finds its perfect place.
I am so grateful for you, dear reader ~ Happy days are coming your way!
I’ll end with a quote from Mark Twain, who couldn’t have put it more nicely: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”