“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgiving,
turn routine jobs into joy,
and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
-William Arthur Ward
Last week I had the opportunity to visit a friend that I had not seen in a few years. I agreed to come to her home, because I know how challenging it could be to meet for coffee when you have two children under the age of five. She is currently separated from her verbally abusive husband, and wanted to catch up on the new events in her life. As, I approached her one bed room apartment, I was wondering how she was doing with this life altering situation. You see, her husband is a very successful business owner who had provided very nicely for them. They had a lovely three thousand square foot home, with a nice pool and enormous back yard. Financially they did very well so she was able to stay at home to care for her two boys. Emotionally she has hurting, until now!
As she opened the door I was unable to recognize her. She was radiant! She looked happier and healthier than the last time I saw her, at her first baby’s baptism. She had lost some weight and her children had grown. When she welcomed me in, I notice her very cozy place, with mismatched furniture. Nothing like the huge home she used to live in. I complemented on the positive feel of her new place. She told me how grateful she had been that her church had donated almost everything in her apartment. I was very impressed at how grateful and happy she was! She told me that when she left her husband she had made a promise to herself that she was only going to focus on her blessings not on what she was leaving behind. She knew it would not be easy to start over, but she also knew it would be better! I was in awe of how her grateful nature and positive attitude had brought so many physical blessings to her life, but I was most impressed with how her gratitude had elevated her spirit!
Today, I am grateful to my friend for inspiring me to write about gratitude. Today, I want to show you how gratitude can only make you realize how rich you already are physically and spiritually. I also want you to realize that with gratitude you can attract more abundance to your life if you practice this wonderful virtue! Here are four benefits of practicing gratitude in your life.
Gratitude lets you focus on positivity.
It is very hard to be negative in your life when you are focusing on all your blessings. When you do this you make room for all the wonderful things that await for you. You see, it’s your positive energy that will reflect more positive things into your life. My friend could have focused on all that she was giving up when she walked out of her very comfortable life style, but she decided to focus on her blessings instead. She focused on her children, her health and the support of her family and friends. I want you to get comfortable with feeling your blessings, big or small. Focus on the small things like waking up, your supportive relationships that you have with others, and then the material things. The goal to doing this is to pull that positive energy to your being, so you may get more of the things you desire.
Gratitude attracts what we want.
As I mentioned already, practicing gratitude will produce positive energy that will bring more of that energy. You attract who you are not what you want. If you are a person that is happy and always counts your blessing you will get more of that eventually getting what you want. I believe that you must always be what you desire. When you practice gratitude you will see how rich you are and your desires are just a cherry on top! Again, it’s that positive state that will let the universe know that you are worthy of receiving more because you are appreciative of what you have.
Gratitude helps us learn the lesson.
With gratitude walking by your side, you will learn the lesson quicker. How is this you ask? To be grateful for every bad situation that comes to your life, you discover that there is a silver lining to every dark cloud. You will also get to step back and see what mistakes were made and how not make the same mistakes. As you focus on lessons you can also see what blessings were brought to your life. My friend realized that she was enabling her verbally abusive husband to continue to do this if she stayed. She was grateful she did, and discovered her inner strength!
Gratitude improves relationships.
Being grateful for the things people do for you, brings more support from others. My friend is very grateful for the people in her church, therefore she has developed solid relationship within this group. Being grateful for what other people do for you, will build strong bonds. Think about those individuals that are grateful for your existence how do they make you feel? How do you feel about them? How has your relationship with them grown? My friend told me that she discovered wonderful friendships in her church, that she knows that these friends will be part of the rest of her life. Show your appreciation for the people that impact your life, and most importantly let them know!
To have an attitude of gratitude is a matter of choice! Decide every morning to thank God for waking up! Start with the things we take for granted, such is your health, family, friends and move into the material things. To be grateful requires dedication, but I promise you that when you consciously practice this virtue you will attract more of your desires to your life. Until next Monday, Believe. Change. Become!
Nancy:)