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Boldly® e-Zine Archives
Exercising your gratitude muscle
November 22, 2004
Here in America, we'll be
celebrating our Thanksgiving holidays this week. We look forward to being able
to sit down with our family and friends, to enjoy a great meal and the
camaraderie. Some of us enjoy parades; others will watch hours of football
while picking over the turkey leftovers. And of course, it's the official
kick-off of the holiday rush!
This is a time of year when we are all
reminded of what we have to be grateful for. But maybe, for some people, this
is easier said than done. It's sometimes very difficult to feel grateful when
we have bad things happening in our lives. At times, if we are in a lot of
emotional pain or having some real challenges in our personal or professional
lives, it may feel overwhelming to try to think of anything to feel grateful
about.
So what can you do if you're not feeling very grateful?
Sometimes it can help to start small. Take a good look at your life, at
your surroundings, at the people in your world. Can you think of just ONE thing
for which you feel thankful right now?
-- Are you thankful for that
cup of coffee in your hand?
-- Are you thankful that the sun is shining
today?
-- Are you thankful to have a day off on Thanksgiving day?
Sometimes, when I am feeling particularly stressed out over something that is
going on in my life, it helps me to remember that no matter what I am dealing
with at that moment, there is probably someone out there who has it much worse
than I do. At times like that, it helps me to remember that other people often
have a lot less than I do, and remembering THEM helps me feel grateful and
reminds me of all the abundance I DO have in my life.
-- I can be
thankful to have a roof over my head, by remembering those that don't.
-- I
can be thankful for someone in my life who brings me joy, by remembering those
that have no one.
-- I can be thankful for the clothes I'm wearing, when I
remember the people who have no decent clothes to wear.
By working at
taking gratitude to a new level in your life, you can even begin to be thankful
for your problems! Yes, I am completely serious about that... because even in
the midst of a problem or a crisis, it is possible to find something to be
grateful about. For instance:
I spent the past few weeks packing and
moving. Every day, as I packed and moved boxes, my body has grown more and more
sore and exhausted. By the end of the move (which required not one but three
trips with the U-Haul - in the rain, no less), I was in a lot of pain and so
tired I could barely think straight! But I decided I could be grateful that I
am physically able to still do things like that - my body is strong enough to
be able to lift some boxes; I am able to walk and climb stairs; and even more
important - I had the help of two strong teenagers to move the heavy stuff (my
nephew and his good friend) for which I was PROFOUNDLY grateful.
I'll
take it a step further. About two weeks ago, our family received some
devastating news. Chris, the 44-year-old daughter of my mother's best friend,
literally dropped dead, very unexpectedly, in her kitchen one evening. No one
was home at the time - her husband was away on a trip and her two boys, ages 14
and 11, were sleeping at a friend's house. The 14-year old found his mother the
next day when he went home early in the morning.
Needless to say, we
were heartbroken to receive this news... and it felt even more shocking because
my mother and I had just made a trip to see our friends, about a month prior. I
hadn't seen or really even talked with Chris since her wedding over 20 years
earlier, but as kids we saw each other whenever our families got together for a
visit - we even spent several vacations with her family. Seeing Chris so
vibrant and full of life, and then finding out just weeks later that she died
so suddenly, was a very sad thing.
But I feel grateful that we had
time to reconnect and spend at least a few days together on our recent visit.
We got to reminisce about some memories from "the old days". We got to talk
about our current lives a bit, and catch up. I feel very lucky that we had that
opportunity. And I feel lucky to have known her at all - she was a really
wonderful person.
So this year, however you may be celebrating your
Thanksgiving holiday - and even for those of you that won't - spend some time
exercising your "gratitude muscle". With regular "exercise" you will find that
gratitude will become a way of life, supporting you well, even through
difficult times.
NOTE:
I am grateful for each one of YOU --
for your interest; for your feedback emails; for sharing my work with others;
and for your continuous support. Happy Holidays!
Around your Thanksgiving dinner table
this year, have each person -- even the children -- say one thing for which
they are grateful this year. Make this a part of your family's Thanksgiving
tradition!
And each night before you go to sleep, make a mental note
of at least FIVE things that happened that day, for which YOU are grateful.
Rather than going to sleep worrying about your problems or the houswork that
didn't get done, you'll be falling off to sleep in gratitude!
For permission to reprint this article, please contact me.
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