13 Reasons To Be Grateful

Wisdom Nuggets: "The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes.  It has enough lush forests, flowered fields and sandy beaches.  It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day.  What the world needs more of is people to appreciate and enjoy it."
                                                                                               - Michael Josephson

Thanksgiving.
Source: Photo Pin

Rick Foster and Greg Hicks set out on a three-year journey to study extremely happy people. In their book How we Choose to be Happy, they found that there are 9 choices happy people make. One of those nine is to practice appreciation - being grateful.

Happy people actively exercise gratitude and choose to live with an attitude of gratitude. They don't buy into what geneticists say, that we have an unmovable "happiness set-point." The happiest people, according to behaviourists, can move beyond that biological set point through a lot of practices, prominent of which is gratitude meditation. In fact, many studies suggest that gratitude can bring a positive mind-set.

A story is told of two 'stupid' friends set out on a journey, in the desert; a quest to discover some treasure. In the scorching heat of the desert they trudged for days hoping to find the treasure. The longer they walked the hotter the sun got. After walking for a few more days, famished, dehydrated and thirsty they couldn't take the heat any more. "Let's just die here instead that seems to be the only option available for us right now"  suggested one of them. "if only there were a shade to shield us from the heat of this stupid sun" quipped the other. "Look" Screamed the first, pointing towards a large oak tree, "Yes, we can hide in its shade, while we catch our breath" With the last ounce of strength they got to the tree, and hurled themselves under the coolness of the tree's shade. After a while the first looking up at the branches of the tree says, "who planted this useless and stupid tree? It doesn't even have a single fruit on it", "I agree" added the other, "the stupid people who planted it should have dug a stupid well near it" Who is stupid here?

Neale Donald Walsch said, "The struggle ends when the gratitude begins" and Gerald Good points out that "If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily" I guess Thomas Fuller knew these men which was why he said, "Gratitude is the least of the virtues, but ingratitude is the worst of vices"

Majority, of us today are like these two ungrateful friends. Which is why it seems like our blessings are locked up somewhere. Our lives could be more peaceful, healthy, interesting or productive if only we can develop an attitude of gratitude, as Marianne Williamson says "Gratitude is an opener of locked-up blessings"

From our previous discussions on this subject matter, we've seen how that science has proved that being grateful;
1. Makes us happier
2. Makes people like us
3. Boosts our career
4. Gratitude increases your goal achievement.
5. Gratitude strengthens our emotions.
6. Gratitude develops our personality.
7. Gratitude makes us more optimistic.
8. Gratitude reduces materialism.
9.Gratitude makes us less self-centered.
10. Gratitude increases self-esteem.
11. Gratitude improves your sleep.
12. Gratitude keeps you away from the doctor.
13. Gratitude increases your goal achievement.

The list is almost inexhaustible. Gratitude does more for is than we have ever realized...it made the leper whole, it multiplied 5 loaves and two fishes, saved Winston Churchill and opens doors. I ask again, "wouldn't you rather be grateful?"

Wisdom Nugget:

FRAME IT, IN GRATITUDE

WISDOM NUGGET: "Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture"
                                                                                                 - Kak Sri


Traditional Thanksgiving, Autumn Holiday Background from Photo Pin

 

The act of gratitude is the act of focusing on the good in life. If we perceive our current life to have more good, we will also believe our future life to have more good. Optimism is correlated with gratitude because those with an optimistic disposition are biologically more likely to focus on the good (gratitude) than on the bad (personal disappointment, anxiety, etc.)

There is story about a woman who had terrible issues in her marriage. Her husband had started having extramarital affairs. The more she complained, the worse it got. It got so bad that he started bringing the women home to his matrimonial bed. Each time, this woman would cry relocating to another room while it lasted. At a point, her husband included physical abuse. She had gone from place to place to seek help, all to no avail.

Then at the counselling table with a fellow believer, the lady counsellor asked her to make a list of the wonderful things about her husband she could ever remember. She declined, initially, but gave in afterwards. Then the counsellor asked her the last time she appreciated her husband for any of the things she'd listed, but she couldn't remember. Then she was asked to go home, prepare her husband a special meal and recite those things to him in an attitude of gratitude. To make matters worse, on getting home, the man was at it again; he was with a different woman. Unrelenting, she went straight to the kitchen and made the man's favourite meal. By now, he had just returned from seeing his concubine off. For the first time in many months the woman warmly invited him to the dining table, a request, to which he obliged reluctantly. So while he yet ate, the woman with all the courage she could muster, and with eyes full of a never ending stream of painful tears, she began to read out the qualities of this prodigal husband in an attitude of gratitude. Blessing, praising extolling, and appreciating him, until he couldn't stand it anymore. She'd with gratitude destroyed his unrepentant heart. He stopped eating, broke down apologizing spuriously. He confessed his many sins and asked for forgiveness. The couple made there and then fresh commitments to each other and that was the end of the "prodigality" in the man.

The benefits of gratitude cannot be over emphasized. This lady had complained all the while, but nothing changed. The story changed however, the moment she became grateful.
Kak Sri, said "Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture", indeed this lady painted her adversity in a lovely picture and framed it beautifully in gratitude.

There might be issues in our lives as you read this, this morning that will only change the moment you start being grateful...what are you waiting for?

Gratitude And Perspectives

WISDOM NUGGET:  "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

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When asked to list what he was thankful for, one little boy wrote, "My glasses!" "That's good," said the teacher, "they help you see better". "No," responded the child, "I’m thankful for my glasses because they keep the other boys from hitting and fighting with me and the girls from kissing me."
From the foregoing, this young chap clearly understood the meaning of gratitude. Your perspective is key to living a life of gratitude. A glass for instance, containing half the volume of water, can either be said to be half full or half empty, depending the way you look at it. Our perspective to the issues of life determines whether we will end up as grouchy, grumpy people. But much more than that, it’s amazing, how beautiful life can be, in a world where gratitude is a core value and an integral part of our lifestyle. It is quite mind blowing, how a simple act of gratitude can turn someone’s life around.

A lady worked as a janitor in a company for many years. Now being a janitor is a pretty thankless job, which many of us might consider as a "dirty" job or at least pretty far down the totem pole. In other words, probably not a whole lot of fun. It happened the company changed owners. Within a few days, the new owner wrote a personal thank you card to every employee in the company. He had his assistant go around and hand them out. When this lady received and opened her card, she burst into tears. She asked if she could be excused from work. Thinking she was sick, she was allowed leave for the rest of the day. What the story was - they found out a few days later - she had never received even a verbal thank you from the previous owners and management - much less a personal card. She had worked there 20 or 30 years! So she was really touched when the new owner sent her a card of appreciation. More so, she had been thinking the change of ownership was probably a good time to quit. Beyond that, she was planning to let them know that very day. Which she didn't. Because the little time, the little extra effort of the owner to send a little business thank you card, helped the lady change her mind.

Melody Beattie couldn’t have put in a better light whe he said, "gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Do You Have A Gratitude List?

Wisdom Nugget: "Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously; and because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."
                                                                                     - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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The dictionary defines "gratitude" as "the state of being grateful: thankfulness". Looking at the word, you'll notice its made up of two words "grateful attitude". Being grateful has to be evident in: the way you say it, to whom you speak it, in the words you speak and just in those, kind gestures, you exhibit which includes your mannerisms.

For some it could still mean appreciation, acknowledgement, gratefulness and honour. Severally we have underestimated the value, gratitude adds to one's life while some people have a hard time expressing gratitude outwardly. For people in this category, sometimes, all you will receive in return is a simple thank you when inside the recipient of your good deed, is welling up and ready to burst into tears of gratitude. Without mincing words, benefits accrue to those who show little acts of appreciation.

Gratitude has been said to mold and shape the entire purpose-driven life. It was Martin Luther king who referred to gratitude as " the basic christian attitude" Today its still referred to as the "heart of the Gospel" It's a personality trait, a mood and an emotion. Think back to a time when you were just so overwhelmed with something someone had done for you and you just had to blurt out a "thank you" That feeling of thanks, of gratitude could not be contained. Would you say the same? I am thankful for;

...the taxes I pay, because it means I'm employed.

...the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.

...a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

...the lady behind me in church who sings off key, because it means that I can hear.

...the alarm that goes off early in the early morning hours, because it means that I'm alive.

...weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been productive.

Beloved, no wonder our nugget says "Giving thanks always for all things. No exceptions. The act of  thanks living. It is gratitude in action. It's a lifestyle. Every little thing in your life that gives you even the slightest bit of joy, every little thing that makes your day a little easier is worthy of true gratitude.

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously; and because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."

Just ForToday, Can I Have Some Strawberry?

 Wisdom Nugget: "So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."

Source: Photo Pin

I have discovered that one of the greatest keys to Happy Living is living your life ONE DAY AT A TIME. So many people live their lives three days at a time. They are regretful of what happened yesterday, resentful of what is happening today and fearful of what will happen tomorrow. They always postpone their opportunity to be happy till tomorrow because they are waiting for "all things to be equal." Unfortunately for them, life will never permit all things to be equal. They forget that "today was the tomorrow they spoke about yesterday."

Remember the teaching of the sage: "So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."

Once upon a time, a man was being chased by a ferocious tiger. He ran until he came to a sheer cliff. As the tiger came bearing down on him, he grabbed a rope hanging over the cliff and climbed down out of the tiger's reach. The man looked up and saw the tiger leering at him, waiting to devour him. Then he looked down below the cliff. There was a deadly drop to the rocks of over five hundred feet. Then he looked up and saw two mice beginning to chew the rope. What should he do? The tiger above, the rocks below, and the rope about to break! Just then he saw a bright red strawberry growing out of the side of the cliff. He stretched out his hand, plucked the strawberry and popped it into his mouth. The juices of the strawberry were so sweet that as he ate he couldn't contain himself. "Delicious, that's the best strawberry I ever tasted!"

Had the man been preoccupied with the tiger (the past) or preoccupied with the rocks below (the future), he would never have enjoyed the strawberry, which we could call "the gift of the present."

Celebrate life as it is. Remember, yesterday is in the tomb and tomorrow is in the womb. All you've got is today. Enjoy it while it lasts ! Can I have some strawberry?

Gratitude Is An Attitude

WISDOM NUGGET: "Happiness doesn't bring gratitude as much as gratitude brings happiness." So, "In every thing give thanks..."

Source: Photo Pin

3 reasons why you should develop a lifestyle of gratitude.

1. Because there is nothing good you have today that you did not receive. You aren't successful just because of your intelligence or hard work (though they were important), but time and chance were favourable to you. There are millions all over the world, who are more intelligent and more hardworking than you who are, and yet... Remember that your choices are half-chance and so are everybody else's.

2. Because no matter what problems you are dealing with today, things could have been worse.

3. Because in the final analysis, all things ( Good, Bad & Ugly ) will work together for your good, if you're faithful to your Maker and are called according to His purpose.

When Robinson Crusoe was wrecked on his lonely island, he drew up in two columns what he called the evil and the good. He was cast on a desolate island, but he was still alive—not drowned, as his ship's company was. He was apart from human society, but he was not starving. He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he did not need them. He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild beasts such as he had seen on the coast of Africa. He had no one to whom he could speak, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all the things necessary for his basic wants. So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but that one could find something for which to be grateful.

Life may not have gone as planned; your mates may seem  to have gone ahead of you. Your dreams may seem to have evaporated before your eyes and your entire life may be a litany of unanswered prayers. But, please, never forget that whatever your situation is, millions of people somewhere are praying, and would die to be, where you are. So, in everything, give thanks!