My journey to life in gratitude started in 2010. And let me say that until then, when I was forty-five, I was a complainant, a gripper, and a whimper for no reason to complain!
Fortunately, I was saved from these very wasteful, counter-productive habits when a Thanksgiving season was given me an empty diary by a Minister for New Thoughts would change exponentially for the better.
I dutifully wrote my gratitude lists and oh my god my life has changed. It worked! I let go of my complaints and focused on all the good things in my life and there are a lot.
Since then:
1. I wrote five or ten things to be grateful for almost every day for years. Every morning and every evening I think about what I'm thankful for.
2. I have recognized (and am grateful) that it is now my calling and passion to share the power of gratitude to inspire others.
3, Because of my passion for sharing gratitude, I have written and published five books on gratitude!
Today I keep my gratitude practice alive and send email gratitude reflections to a group every day. I also write letters to the universe several times a week about what I'm grateful for now, in advance. I find that my gratitude practice grows every year. Nowadays I often write paragraphs instead of a short list of what I'm thankful for.
Did you know that scientific studies show that gratitude contributes to more peace, joy and health? It is said that you cannot be angry or depressed at the same time if you are grateful, and I have found that this is true.
I believe that we can almost always find a reason to be thankful, even when faced with tragedies, unexpected catastrophes or even health problems – a practice that is called "radical gratitude" in our lives too. Here are two disclaimers:
Forgiveness and acceptance can often be the key to finding gratitude in a situation, but these two concepts are not discussed in this article. The article would be too long!
Another note: I find that there are some tragedies in which a person can never feel gratitude, e.g. B. Losing a loved one or being sexually abused. It may not work for everyone and every situation.
But mostly we can find gratitude in negative situations in our lives.
My personal experience of finding gratitude in difficult times
In the summer of 2018, Oregon (where I live) had many devastating wildfires. We watched with horror and unbelief how it got closer and closer to our house. It became obvious that we would probably be evacuated. The smoke was black, the fire brigade and the National Guard checked all IDs before entering the road to our house.
Neighbors and I got out of our cars to watch fields and trees burn near our houses. I tried to maintain a positive attitude, but it only had to be half a mile from our house. Very, very scary! I love where we live and the thought of losing our home was terrifying.
On a Saturday afternoon when I tried to take a nap to escape, our phones rang and sent that we were in Level 3, evacuation time. Out now.
We took our dogs and cockatiels, computers, important papers and some clothing with us and left the rest behind. We were evacuated for six days and were allowed to go home – luckily, all the houses and neighbors were alive and well. Here's my gratitude to take away:
1. We were welcomed by friends from the Spiritual Life Center that I attend, and in fact eight other people had offered refuge to us. I am very grateful for it and for Alison and Gary who made us feel at home and helped me set up my computer in their house so I could work and take on us and our messy pets. Thanks to this experience, we are all much closer friends and maintain regular contacts.
2. I am now grateful to the firefighters and all the staff who helped – in my heart, not just in my head. You are unbelievable!
3. I think the greatest gratitude I have for the wildfire experience is that I was able to surrender and let go of coming back to our house. It was the only way to stay healthy and it was a gift. After all, it's love, not possession, and I've found that out more through experience.
When I was thirty-five, I lost my beautiful mother to cancer when she was only fifty-seven. This was a terrible time in my life. I remember waking up and immediately feeling scared and sad when I remembered that mom was going to die soon.
One of my gratitude gains from this sad time is that I was Mama's main caregiver and that I have come a lot closer to her in the past nine months. My sisters and I got closer because of this experience, and this was the first time that I had taken a course in Miracles, a spiritual series of lessons that changed my life for the better.
My mother had what I called "angels" who helped her from the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, CA, and they learned a course in Miracles that also made me study it because she gave me gave so much and inspired me.
Before my mother died, she thought about her cancer and what could have caused it. She felt like she was a human lover who was scared all of her life and caused the disease. She left me the message not to be like her, for which I am very grateful and which I have always remembered, and therefore changed my codependent behavior. We also had time to say goodbye to the cancer that usually occurs, and that was a great blessing.
Another example that changed my life incredibly in many ways was the divorce after twenty-four years. This was a very difficult decision, I wasn't sure if it was the right one and my ex-husband ultimately chose us. My heart was broken So heartbroken that I finally went to the Santa Rosa, CA spiritual center that many people in my life had gently suggested I could participate because they thought I would love it too. And I did it!
From the moment I entered I had tears in my eyes when I saw all the loving, warm people. As I listened to the lecture, it became even clearer that this would be my spiritual home for the rest of my life, and that's about it.
I am eternally grateful for my divorce. I insatiable took part in spiritual teaching; became a licensed practitioner who now serves in Oregon, where I live. I am blessed to teach spiritual classes and workshops, and in 2019 I spoke about the topics in this article in two spiritual life centers.
Finally, I met my second husband, who I've been with for almost twenty years, and we're much more compatible. He asked me to move to Oregon and I did. And I am in love with the forest, the rivers and the beauty. None of this would have happened if I had stayed in my first marriage. Very grateful!
In each of these cases, a certain amount of gratitude was readily available, but more came later. It may take a few years to find gratitude, but looking for it will help your healing.
I would like to mention some well-known people and how they found radical gratitude in their lives. Everyone inspires me a lot!
Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist who was put in a concentration camp during the Holocaust and surprisingly found a way to stay positive. Based on his experience, the search for the meaning of man, which has been sold fifteen million times and has influenced the lives of so many people, he finally wrote a very effective book.
Its premise is that we have to find meaning in life, and that will help us to deal with even the most difficult situations. He was a walking example. Here is a quote from his powerful book:
"Everything can be taken … but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose your own attitude under certain circumstances, to choose your own path."
Will Pye, who, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, wrote a wonderful book on radical gratitude, the recipe for gratitude, and completely healed himself with gratitude.
Here is a quote from his excellent book:
“When we look at ourselves and our life story through the lens of gratitude, we can come into contact with the beauty and heroism that are inherent in everyone. Gratitude for yourself supports compassion that encompasses all of us. "
There are other examples of physical healing in which the person is thankful for the illness. Anita Moorjani realized on a deep level that after a near-death experience we are love and could completely let go of their fear of cancer and had a spontaneous remission. It is her calling to share her insights with others, and she wrote a beautiful book about her experience, Dying To Be Me, that has reached millions of people around the world.
Helen Keller has always been one of my heroes. Even though she was deaf and blind at such a young age, she always found reasons to say thank you. I share a very powerful quote from her:
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they have to be felt with the heart. I thank God for my disabilities. I have been given so much that I have no time to think about what was denied. "
In conclusion, I firmly believe that we can almost always find gratitude even in the most difficult situations. It may take some time, so be patient. Life is about how we react to it, and we always have a choice, as Victor Frankl and Helen Keller prove so beautifully. I feel that my own examples of life also show this.
Being radically grateful isn't always easy, but it's incredibly rewarding. Our attitude really affects our lives, and life with gratitude is immeasurably strong.
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