Cultivate a Life of Gratitude
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” ― Maya Angelou
We all can recount the highs and lows of our journey in life. There have been milestones, heartaches, disappointments, joy, “aha moments” and a host of other emotions and events. I believe in all of them there is a moment or a silver lining of gratitude or appreciation that can be discovered. I am not saying be thankful you lost a loved one or experienced heartache. I do believe when we think about the person who is no longer on this earth, we can change our mindset to gratitude. We can be thankful for the time we had with the loved one, thankful for the lessons we learned from them, and be thankful for the baton they have left us to carry into each day of our life.
“The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent it changes the world you see.” – Robert Holden
BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE - I am grateful for the roof over my head, food on my table, and a place to sleep. Whenever I start focusing on what I “lack” (or think I lack) I change my mindset to go to a place of thankfulness and gratitude. Let’s turn to the mindset of Buddhist monks—who practice gratitude and loving-kindness despite having few material possessions—to guide the way.
"You're not really wealthy until you have something money can't buy." - Garth Brooks
November used to be a hard month for me. I lost my mother to an illness when I was 17 years old, many years later as an adult my father passed away in November, and in 2008, I was served divorce papers the week of Thanksgiving. Those emotions no longer grip me as they did the moment they occurred. They did lead me down a path of gratitude. Grateful for wonderful parents who encouraged me and shined a light of their knowledge and experiences on my path of life, for experiencing marriage, and for guiding and raising two young children to adulthood when the statistics of being a single parent don’t go in your favor.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” Eckhart Tolle
“When you're thankful for what you have; you end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough." - Oprah Winfrey
“You can’t be fearful and grateful simultaneously, so if you want to conquer those [emotions], maybe it’s time to train your nervous system to go into gratitude more naturally.” - Tony Robbins
A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who wrote about their gratitude over a period of time showed greater signs of emotional well-being compared to people who wrote about negative or neutral life events. When speaking to the graduating class of 2017 at Skidmore College, Oprah Winfrey underscored how knowing what you’re grateful for can help you make the right decisions and find success in work and life.
“I practice being grateful,” Winfrey said. “And a lot of people say, ‘Oh Oprah, that’s easy for you ‘cause you got everything!’” On the contrary, Winfrey argued: “I got everything because I practiced being grateful.”
“Your life is filled with exclamation points, highs, and lows. So, you have a day where it’s a graduation, a baby’s born, a marriage, you lose someone, or a divorce. These are all exclamation points,” Today Host, Hoda Kotb stated. “But most of life is just Wednesday. Just a regular day, and I think if you can find joy on the Wednesdays when you don’t have something special happening or some great event, that’s the best.”
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh made it his mission to teach us how to slow down and be more compassionate, not only to other people but to ourselves. He said it starts with the way you walk.
“When we walk like [we are rushing], we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth,” Hanh said. “We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.” Your feet are your foundation, so if you change the way you walk and continue to do so carefully and mindfully (even on those days when you’re ridiculously busy), you’ll change the way you carry yourself, which impacts the way you interact with everyone throughout the day. Start your day with a gratitude attitude, set your feet firmly on the ground, and walk at the pace of gratitude.
