Grateful

Outdoor concerts on cool August evenings, dining al fresco in our backyard, picking out fresh strawberries at the farmer’s market…ah, just a few of the many pleasures I am enjoying this summer. All these experiences remind me of how fortunate I am to live the life I do and more so, to have an attitude of gratitude.     

From my journal: June 19, 2012, Newbury Park, California

“I have so much to be grateful for…my health, family, friends…my spirituality and faith. Work..a beautiful house, neighborhood, community, material comforts, clothes, food, a car…insurance, good doctors…writing these things down helps me to remember how lucky I am…”

In addition to keeping journals of my everyday observations, I have created gratitude journals, too. This began decades earlier when I first read Melody Beattie’s book Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life. In her slim volume, she encourages readers to get in touch with the most important things in their lives. Through questions, illustrations, and affirmations, she guides them to discover their blessings, big and small. In doing so, readers can then practice a grateful state of mind. 

My gratitude journals first helped me to cultivate this mindset. From time to time, I peek at them. Being the Queen of Lists, many have numbered or bulleted phrases detailing natural phenomena like beautiful sunrises and sunsets, places traveled, and life-changing books I’ve read. Without a doubt, perusing them brings to mind all I have to be thankful for. As well as these journals, I have a gratitude jar that sits on a cabinet in my craft room. It’s a gift from my friend Nina. As I fill it with slips of handwritten notes, I can’t help but feel blessed. And when I receive cards, texts or letters from loved ones, I am always reminded of how glad I am that they are in my life.

One other way I have of counting my blessings is to pick a gratitude card from a deck that I have, read it, then reflect on it. Sentiments written by authors, entrepreneurs, world leaders, actors, entertainers, and everyday people, offer little gems of wisdom.  Here are a few that have resonated with me. Hope they do the same for you.

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” – Jean Baptiste Massieu

“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.” – Melody Beattie

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” – Eckhart Tolle

“What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.” – Brene Brown

“A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.” – Plato

“We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” –  Neal A. Maxwell

“The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.”- Dr. Robert Holden

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.”- Randy Pausch

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Cicero

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward

“Two kinds of gratitude: the sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.” – Edwin Arlington Robinson

“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude. A quiet joy.” – Ralph H. Blum

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer

“Gratitude acknowledges connection…when we contemplate our place in the intricate interdependence network of life, we feel wonder and joy.” – Robert A. Emmons

Practicing an attitude of gratitude has many rewards. By focusing on the positive things in our lives, everyday stress is reduced. When we are more at ease, we perform better during the day and sleep better at night. Our relationships are strengthened. Seeking the good in others helps us find it in them, and ourselves. Ultimately, a grateful mind leads to a more satisfied and healthier way of living. 

And, one of the most amazing things I’ve noticed, is that the more I express gratitude for the good things in my life, the more good things come into my life. For that, I couldn’t be more grateful.