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?