Thursday, December 26, 2013

How gratitude WILL change you!

    For my very first blog I wanted to share a lesson that embodies my blog: heart, wisdom, and action all in one.  The topic being Gratitude.  Many people have a generic idea of what gratitude is but do not understand it's true harnessed power.  The reason I chose gratitude to be my first blog is because it is the one thing you can begin today and see your happiness exponentially increase instantly.  

    Gratitude is the act of being gracious or thankful.  It is taking the time to recognize a person, an event, an act, a gesture, etc and to actually sit in that moment and say .....



    So I do not make this blog all about me I will give you only a brief synopsis of how gratitude has benefited my life.  6 years ago I had a nickname, people called me Reggie Downer.  I was blunt, honest, and negative.  Even though I would show gratitude I often also would pay more attention to all the negative facts as well.  "Yes that person gave me a free t-shirt, but don't you know that's just a marketing ploy!"  Wow, talk about a different woman now.  I don't even recognize her.  I wish for you all to not have to learn this the hard way like I did though.  It took disease ravaging my body and the actualization that if I continued I would die early.  


    Research Shows Gratitude Heightens Quality of Life- wow!

  "The study split several hundred people into three different groups and all of the participants were asked to keep daily diaries. The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day without being told specifically to write about either good or bad things; the second group was told to record their unpleasant experiences; and the last group was instructed to make a daily list of things for which they were grateful. The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, and energy."  McCullough/Emmons, et al

     Why make life harder than it has to be? So, I want you to decide your method of showing gratitude.  There are many apps for your phone, good ole fashioned paper and pen(cil), and the art of conversation via phone.  Pick one!  I chose the app for convenience factor, but I also make sure to vocalize as well when it involves another human.  This is your challenge: One time per day you will decide to write/type down one thing you are grateful for.  It looks like this: Today I am grateful for: "Sharing a blog that could very well be someone's change."  Do this for just 1-2 weeks and start to notice those little things that begin to happen.  You begin to see the world a bit differently and amazing doors begin to open. 

    For the "realists, negative, and sick" I challenge you to start the very same way I did.  Mine looked like this 
Today I am grateful I woke up.
Today I am grateful I can still walk.
Today I am happy I didn't say a curse word.
Today I told my mom/dad/sister I love them. 
Sometimes, we have to literally start from scratch to retrain our brain so to speak.  

Please follow up with comments when this works and you begin to see the shift.  As usual if you need more assistance or one on one help feel free to contact me via my website www.dreamthis.org 


No comments:

Post a Comment