Tag Archives: Gratitude

Blogroll, Expectation, God, Gratitude, Growing, Personal, positive, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Is Just Around The Corner!

I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving, which is just around the corner. You know that time when once a year we are supposed to focus on being thankful for our many blessing, while stuffing ourselves with turkey, dressing and all the fixings. I try my best to express my thankfulness everyday, because I really do believe that everyday is a gift. I call it practicing gratitude, because I believe to get good at something, we must continually practice.

I’ve discovered that living a life of thanksgiving seems to open the door for me to experience the fullness of life. I honestly cannot think of anything I need and I am even more hard pressed to come up with something I want. I’ve learned through my thankfulness to accept things as they are, to embrace chaos as a friend and this has moved me out of an almost continual state of confusion into a place of crystal clear clarity that allows me to learn from my past, while living in the blessing of today and looking forward to whatever tomorrow chooses to bring my way.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Living a life of thanksgiving is spiritual work. It is not always easy and it requires us to take our eyes off of self, so that we can see all around us at how the hand of God is moving and working on our behalf. Being thankful is a natural part of life, it’s the way we were supposed to do it, before we were corrupted by the world and the selfishness of our flesh.

Take a moment after you read this blog to think about at least three things that you are thankful for. Write them down and tape that note where you will see it multiple times through out the day. Also post your three things on social media to encourage others to think about what they are thankful for and you might just be surprised at how it makes a difference in someone else’s day and life too.

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Blogroll, faith, Gratitude, Growing, life, mindfulness, self help, spiritual enlightenment

Life Is Yours For The Taking!

“If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu

That sounds like an amazing way to live life, doesn’t it. How incredible it is that there is nothing lacking and the whole world does belong to us, once we come to that realization. The question is: How do we get to that place of realization? Realization being, not just that it sounds good, but that we believe it and live it.

I believe we get there through GRATITUDE. When we here the word gratitude, we think about being thankful and that is a part of it, but it is much more than just being thankful. Gratitude is the realization that I already have everything I need. There is nothing that needs to be added and nothing that needs to be taken away. The recipe for our blessing, growth and success is complete.

This does not mean that life does not come without challenges. Life is tough, but it’s not impossible. The truth is that the tough challenges are part of the process that moves us from where we are to where we need to be so we can become. The best way to get there is by focusing on what is right over what is wrong, this is when the real magic happens.

I’ve lived life long enough to notice something truly remarkable: Happy people are grateful and grateful people are happy. I’ve notice that happy people come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. I’ve also noticed that happy people still have challenges, struggles and difficulties. So why are they happy? Because, somewhere along the way they learned to be grateful, regardless of the circumstances.

You see, this whole human experience, the good, the bad and the ugly serves a greater purpose than most of us realize. This whole human experience is offering our Spirit the opportunity to grow our soul. This is just one of the many amazing gifts that our Creator gives us that allows us to follow in His footsteps.

My challenge is to practice gratitude everyday of my life and in as many moments as possible, because it is the practice of gratitude that helps me to take advantage of the room for improvement that I have in my life and offers me the opportunity to experience the magic of the Spirit at work on me, in me and through me.

Stop focusing on what you don’t have or what’s not working the way you want it to and instead practice being grateful for what you do have and what is working. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life and living…

Gratitude, Growing, mindfulness, Personal, Uncategorized

A Great Attitude Begins With Gratitude!

When my girls were younger and they would catch a bad attitude, I would discipline them by making them go to their room with a legal pad and start writing a list of everything they were grateful for. They couldn’t come back out until they had written down 25 things. I had learned in my own life that when my attitude got out of wack, that I needed to get my eyes and mind off of myself and onto my blessings, which have always been many. Some where along life’s journey, I had learned this simple shift in focus was powerful in helping me to get back to a good place in life and it worked for them to – every time!

At some point, I can’t really remember when, I began the practice of writing down three things I was grateful for every now and then. A few years ago, this became a part of my daily routine and has become a powerful tool in helping me to cultivate a more positive attitude that contributes to all areas of greater blessing in my life and living.

Gratitude is not complicated, it is really a very simple thing. Gratitude is a feeling, expression or thought of thanks, appreciation or gratefulness. It amazes me how something so simple, can be so powerful. If there were just one discipline you added to your daily routine, this would be the one I would give my highest recommendation, because from it flows everything else.

Our world has a way of training us to look for the bad, rather than the good. Something inside of us compels us to play the victim. Most of us walk around with a sense of entitlement that the world owes us one, but there is nothing that could be farther from the truth. The facts are: The world owes us nothing and life is not fair!

But that’s okay, because while life does not always work out the way we want it to, it does find a way of working itself out. And I have found that life works itself out for us in a lot better way, when our focus is right. Gratitude realigns our focus, gets our attitude right and puts us on the track for greater blessings.

Take some time today to write out at least three things you are grateful for:

1. Thank You for ___________________________!

2. Thank You for ___________________________!

3. Thank You for ___________________________!

And by the way, you will be glad you did!