Fullness on Thanksgiving will not be from the turkey, stuffing, casseroles and pie, but from a heart full of gratitude.
Gratitude means much more than just pausing briefly before the meal on the fourth Thursday of November to give thanks for one’s blessings. It is an attitude and outlook toward life cultivated through good times and bad.
Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, described a time when his mentor, named Socrates, challenged Dan to sit out on a large, flat stone until he had “something of value” to share. Dan sat out on the rock for hours and hours. On more than one occasion, believing he had come up with something, he went to tell Socrates. Each of these times, Socrates decided the statement was not good enough, and he sent Dan back to the rock for more hours of pondering. Finally, Dan had an insight that he knew was something of value. When Dan shared this insight, Socrates looked up, smiled, and welcomed Dan back inside. The “something of value” that Dan had realized was this: “There are no ordinary moments.” This is the essence of gratitude. No moment, nothing in life, should be taken for granted. In developing gratitude for every moment — for the simple joys, and even for the challenging times in our lives — we come to truly enjoy and appreciate life. Then we are able to see the magic that surrounds us every second of every minute of every day. True gratefulness comes from a conscious decision to recognize your blessings, coupled with the emotional feelings that accompany a thankful heart. An ungrateful person can utter the words “thank you” in protest. A thankful person can hold their gratitude as a guarded secret, yearning to be shared. Grateful people not only count and take joy in their blessings, but they influence others with words and deeds by deliberately displaying their pleasure and appreciation to those who should receive it. Life is full of opportunities for giving thanks. Do you seek them out? Are you remembering to show appreciation to those closest to you? If you complain, you will find yourself with plenty of others to join in. If you live a positive, grateful, successful life, you will attract other positive, grateful, and successful people.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy
Why should you have a good attitude, a positive mindset, in the form of an attitude of gratitude? The most altruistic reasons are for the betterment of humankind. Saying thank you helps others feel good. Another reason to develop an attitude of gratitude is that positive people attract each other. If you are a complainer, you can easily find others to “validate you” in your misery. But consider if you are seeking out those who agree and alienating those who do not. If you display a positive outlook, you will attract positive people. Positive and successful attitudes include at their core appreciation and gratitude.
One further reason is that research shows it is beneficial to your health (Mcollough, Emmons 2003). In this study, one participant group recorded a diary of daily events, another group wrote down unpleasant experiences, and the third group wrote down a daily record listing things for which they were grateful. The gratitude group was more likely to help others, exercise, and complete personal goals, while reporting more determination, optimism, alertness, energy, and enthusiasm. It is interesting to note that this study also found people who take time to deliberately record their gratitude were more likely to feel loved, and found more kindness reciprocated to them as they sent out an increase of kindness from their attitude. Also, grateful people were grateful regardless of whether special events happened in their day or not. In other words, they did not just have moments of gratefulness, but grateful attitudes.
In her November 10th presentation entitled “Developing and Attitude of Gratitude” Deb Harding, LIFE Plan Health and Wellness Coach reminded us of the benefits of this “new” way of thinking—A grateful heart is a healthy heart. She encouraged us to keep a daily Gratitude Journal through the end of November and to record five things each day for which we are grateful.
An Attitude of Gratitude
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Lifestyle Improvement for Excellence!
November 12, 2008 Thoughts on Gratitude
” A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”
Henry Ward Beecher
“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that
it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to
always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done
for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed
at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
Albert Schweitzer
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity….It turns problems into
gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important
events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a visions for
tomorrow.” Melodie Beattie.
“Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” Satchel Paige
“If the only prayer you say in your life is “thank you,” that would suffice.” Meister Eckhart
“A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining soul complains even
if he lives in paradise.” Baha’u’llah
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Cicero
“If you can’t be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape.” Unknown
“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.” Buddah
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” Lionel Hampton
“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes
of which all men have some. Charles Dickens
Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more
of the things that you appreciate or value into your life. –Christiane Northrup
Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. –Doris Day