Gratitude

“The soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than one that never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.”- Wallace Wattles

After this Thanksgiving holiday, my mind has been especially focused on gratitude. I seem to have felt a lot more gratitude this year than I have in years previous.

Perhaps it is a sign that I am growing and maturing, turning toward giving thanks for what I do have, rather than focusing on what I do not have. I’m appreciating the smaller things in life, food to eat, family to enjoy, a home to live in, a loving spouse, sweet children, and abundant wealth (compared to 90% of the world- we live in large, heated homes, with running water, carpet, refrigerators and other luxuries).

Happiness is a Choice

Many people who have everything they could want are still miserable because they lack gratitude. Some people who are rich are still unfulfilled because they fail to appreciate what they have.

Yet others who seemingly have nothing can still be so happy, because they’ve chosen to focus on being grateful for what they do have. They’ve made happiness a choice, one that is not dependent on circumstances.

In her book, Happy For No Reason, Marci Shimoff quotes the Dalai Lama, in which he says:

“The real enemy of happiness is the mind’s fixations and delusions. Look at the situation differently, see the truth and the suffering is less. If you have the right mind, you can overcome anything- you can be happy, no matter what.”

Gratitude Brings More Things to be Grateful For

Marci Shimoff says, “Gratitude is absolutely the best way to bring more into your life.” It’s impossible to bring more good things into your life if you’re always focusing on what you don’t like, what you don’t want and what you don’t have.

Whether it’s your job, your relationship, your financial situation, your health, if you’re focusing on the negative, you tend to create even more of it. That’s because what you give your attention to, increases, or shows up more in your life.

On the other hand, if you place your attention on the things you are grateful for (and there is always something, no matter how bad things are), then you create for your self a happiness that is not dependent on circumstances or situations, and you will notice and create more things in your life to be grateful about.

As Wallace Wattles says in The Science of Getting Rich, “The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best; therefore it tends to become the best; it takes the form or character of the best, and it will receive the best.”

Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude

“The daily practice of gratitude is one of the conduits by which your wealth will come to you.”

Wallace Wattles

Wealth is more than money, it includes relationships, health, finances, peace, fulfillment and more. Wealth can be achieved (in all these areas), by cultivating an attitude of gratitude. Doing this is simple. It starts by being grateful today, right now, for the things in your life.

“But I’m not grateful for anything!” you might be saying, “Nothing is working for me, everything is wrong.” Well, if you had to be grateful for something, what would it be? Maybe it’s the kindness of a stranger or friend, the smile of a child, a flower, sunrise or sunset, or to have a toilet to use. Start with the small things, and then work out from there.

Make a challenge out of it. What are you grateful for right now? Who are you grateful for? Think of everything you possibly can.

Action Steps

1. Make a daily habit of gratitude. Begin a gratitude journal, carry around a gratitude rock, begin each day before you get out of bed by expressing thanks for what you have.

2. Whenever you begin to feel negative emotions such as fear, frustration, discouragement or depression, begin to focus instead on what you could be grateful for if you really had to be. Make this into a habit and you’ll be amazed at the changes in your life that will result.

The Excitement Factor

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My husband and I have recently returned from living abroad in Costa Rica for the past year. We’ve been members of mainstream society now for about four weeks, complete with apartment and a full-time job (for my husband).

We’ve gotten into a routine. My husband works, I clean the house, do the laundry, play with the kids, he comes home, we go to bed, and then hit REPEAT the next morning. Groundhog Day.

Now we do try to do find meaning and purpose in what we’re doing- we read and teach the kids, we read inspiring books, we write, we work on our business.

But the biggest noticeable difference between living here and living abroad? Excitement. Tim Ferris says in his book The Four Hour Work Week, “The opposite of happiness is not sadness. It’s boredom. A synonym for happiness should be excitement.”

Before we moved to Costa Rica, I never noticed this aspect was missing from my life. I was too busy- fixing meals, caring for the kids, cleaning up the perpetual messes, running errands, more meals, more clean up, only to get up the next day and do it again- an unending treadmill of sameness.

Of course I didn’t know this then. But having gone abroad and come back, excitement is the most noticeable thing missing. In Costa Rica, you woke up each day excited for the newness of it all. Everything was different, from the stunning sunrises to the lush green scenery, the food (and the maid who prepared it), the neighbors milking their cows, the “pulperias” and Hypermas and iguanas, monkeys, waterfalls, beaches, volcanoes and the breathtaking year-round blooming flowers.

Every weekend you would actually do something. You would get together with your friends and say “Let’s go see a waterfall,” or “Let’s go hike the volcano,” “Let’s go to the beach, the nature reserve, the zoo, Africa Mia” even “How about a BBQ” (oh, did I mention the weather was always perfect?) Life was exciting and fun! Your senses were stimulated and it caused reflection on life.

Don’t get me wrong, there was ’sameness’ in Costa Rica. You still lived- ate, worked, slept, got up and did it again. But even in the ’sameness’ there was some excitement, because, heck, you were doing it in Costa Rica.

Now my purpose in writing is not to offend, only to supply another view point and hopefully provoke thought. Why is it that Utah has the highest ratio of depression per capita, as well as drug abuse, even among mothers with children at home? (But it’s not just Utah- many people suffer from ‘boredom’- even Costa Ricans in Costa Rica).

Could it be a lack of excitement? Could it be the never-ending treadmill of sameness, day after same day, week after same week, year after long-drawn-out year? It may play a part. I can only speak for myself, but if I don’t get some excitement soon, I might just go crazy!

That doesn’t mean that life here sucks and we just all need to move to Costa Rica to find excitement and fulfillment in life. Excitement really comes from within- it is an attitude that can be developed by looking for the beauty, awe and splendor all around us. Fun can be found right here (or wherever we are), the question is, Do we find it?

When was the last time you felt really alive, that you were so filled with the thrill and adventure of life that you threw your arms up into the air and your head back and just took it all in?

If it was recently, kudos to you. You’re better than the majority. I know for me it’s been awhile. For me, that’s what’s missing- The Excitement Factor.

It’s time to get it back.

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