Reflections: What Are You Most Grateful For…?
“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. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” Melody Beattie
Reflections: What Are You Most Grateful For…?
TEDxSF – Louie Schwartzberg – Gratitude
“Since 1996 I had accumulated more wealth, more responsibility, more possessions; everything, it seemed had grown exponentially – except my happiness. How had I, with all my options and opportunities, become one of those people who never have time to feel delight? I was stretched in so many directions; I wasn’t feeling much of anything. Too busy doing… But the truth is, I was busy in 1996 too. I just made gratitude a daily priority. I went through the day looking for things to be grateful for and something always showed up.” Oprah Winfrey. What I Know For Sure O Magazine November 2012
Recently, I was reading the November issue of O Magazine when I came across the above comment from Oprah. It was on the last page in her What I Know For Sure editorial. We all get busy in our lives and, as Oprah suggested, it is quite easy to find ourselves skipping some of those spirit lifting, shape shifting tools that help us stay balanced. Then, thankfully, when a friend or a situation reminds us of that imbalance, we can revert to our spirit of gratitude again and find some peace within.
For Oprah, it was the difficult struggles with building OWN that tilted her off her daily gratitude scale. After ten years of writing a daily gratitude journal on five things she was grateful for each day, she found herself slipping. There have been times this year when I have found my spirit waning and the beliefs I hold dear felt tired. Then we catch a glimpse of someone making that extra push, or someone says an encouraging word and we reach deep down for those reserves. We reach for what I call our Life force … and then we remember – I Can Do It! Yes, the effort is worth it. I’m most grateful for the Life Force; that spark within that keeps us breathing, believing and doing… Without life, nothing else matters. More below.
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” Gilbert K. Chesterton
Reflections: What Are You Most Grateful For…
My life is still crazy busy. Today, though, I’m continuously grateful for having the stamina to keep going at this pace…. I know for sure that appreciating whatever shows up for you in life changes your personal vibration. You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you’re aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots. Oprah Winfrey
I’ve always believed that what we believe we become. I don’t mean this in a fatalistic way, but in the way our thoughts support or sabotage us during tough phases in our lives. Sometimes, it is not the doing that matters but the being … We have to be fully present to even do/accomplish anything. When we nurture ourselves with compassion and patience, in time, our healing will lead us to that place of great growth. Don’t give up. Remember to always be grateful for what is… Happy Thanksgiving! Thank You!
What are you most Grateful for? How do you honor the spirit of gratitude inside you? Do you keep a gratitude journal? Do share! Thank you. 😉
Positive Motivation Tip: Every gesture of kindness; a thought, an action, carries a seed of thankfulness… give generously.
More Wellness Boosters/Affirmations & Resources
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos Flock of birds, via Wikipedia or Gratitude Journal by limevelyn via Flickr
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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Trackbacks
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Love Chesterton’s quote. It’s so true, that things we take for granted, don’t seem nearly as precious as those for which we’re truly grateful. When I send someone a gift, it’s so nice when they take the time to thank me. Sadly that’s quite rare with some of the over-privileged members of my family. 🙁
I hear you… TY! Much is taken for granted when life offers abundance and people don’t have to worry about food and such. Sadly, some might never learn to be appreciative and say thanks. 🙁
I did the Gratitude Journal thing for a couple of years. It changes how you think in SUCH a good way. It trains you to see what is there for you as you go about your life. I don’t keep the journal anymore, but I still keep seeing what I’m grateful for all day, every day, and thank you is always there in the front of my brain.
Excellent… I did too and I suppose I use my blog to keep it going. I believe it has great impact as we move through our daily challenges and blessings. TY! 😉
Very interesting post – I think a lot of our own attitude is extremely important – I think the attitude “treat others as you want them to treat you” – if it doesn’t seem so treat them as they treat you – so I was brought up – you have to be careful when you have to throw the first stone – not just careful but very thoughtful – I think there’s so much give reason for being thankful… 🙂
True… especially if we believe in the Golden Rule and Karma, we must be careful how and what we do. Our attitude matters a lot in how we handle difficult situations too… Perhaps it’s an age thing for me, but I do try to not sweat the small stuff… Tempus fujit! TY! 🙂
Another blogger asked the same question the other day and I said I was grateful for her blog. I feel the same way about your blog – it is a source of great delight and interest for me. Thank you.
TY so much Julie and I am grateful that our paths crossed. I enjoy your blog too and I admire the brutal honesty you bring to each post… TY! 🙂
i’m so grateful for my family and my health. In that order. I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by the responsibility that comes with having so much family. I do believe that our thoughts are responsible for much of what we experience, too. I spend a lot of time reflecting on the blessings and very little time thinking about the more negative aspects. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving day, too, Eliz. And thank you for the wonderful quotes. I enjoy Melody Beattie and Oprah, both. oxo
TY for your kind words… Sending prayers and blessings your way. We are doing fine; even with the usual run of winter colds in our household. I am choosing to see the grace and blessings too… It has been a very challenging year on many levels but I m grateful to have chosen to maintain a perspective of seeking the gratitude in things… It hasn’t been easy this year… So I remain thankful for all… the life force covers it all . 🙂
Hi Eliz,
Just getting around to reading my favorite blogs that have come in since Friday. And of course, yours is one of them.
Ah, gratitude. I do keep a journal of gratitude in which I write my thoughts to God. This keeps me grounded and it’s a great way to start each day! Love the photo with the heart around the journal.
Have a wonderful week! 😀
Yes, a journal helps us to stay focused on what matters too…TY! Have a great week ahead too! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. 😉
I enjoyed the TED talk “we protect what we fall in love with” is a beautiful sentiment. There is always something to be grateful for.
Exactly! We can expand our preferences and be more inclusive of others. Gratitude has helped me a lot this year. TY! 🙂
i would say my gratitude journal is really just a list of things that i note in a small notebook at the end of each day. of course, there are those days where you are so tired that you just have enough energy to crawl into bed and crash. i also love the quote by chesterton. thanks for the inspiration, again. 🙂
TY and whatever we do to maintain our spirit of thanks is good… 🙂 I can relate…I’m tired a lot lately. 🙂
So much love, joy and hope in this post.You shared your heart and it’s truly a blessing to all of us.I am grateful for my borrowed life and health, for my family, friends and most of all my God who loves me unconditionally. Thanks.
I am grateful for all you mention too… I love your term borrowed life… so appropriate. 🙂
Reblogged this on TICKTalkLyme.
TY so much for the re-blog and apologies for my delayed reply… 🙂
I just watched Louis Schwartzburg’s video on gratitude on here. Why did Tom Gardner move to Florida to do timelapse photography?
Good question… I don’t know but will look into it for you. TY! 🙂
I feel so bad for John Mcafee. I was following his blog. It sounds like he “has been captured”. I suspect that he probably did do it. I cried real tears tonight.
Sad… 🙁
I miss him so much. My life does not feel right with out him. I am having trouble with my own short term memory. I am not saying that that is his fault. He is the one that told me we have parents in heaven… the godhead and they we have destinies… like soul mates. I think that it is our duty from that knowledge to try to make things work. That seems like the appropriate response to me. One time I saw a little poem on his computer that said “I am looking for a waif with a child”. I knew that was not me and I did not want to have a child out of wedlock, but it seemed he had pondered having children at times. He is a Latter Day Saint. How could he not. I have a 7 year old now… a beautiful, athletic, popular, funny red head with freckles on his nose. I have had my own 2 bedroom apartment for 6 years in the state capitol of Vermont which is a safe place where people respect each other. I am an active member of my ward at my church, which is the church that he introduced me to. My telephone number has been in the phone book pretty much all of this time, but he has not called me in 6 years.
I hope you will continue to move forward as you have and find some peace for yourself and your child… You are doing better than you imagine… Keep up the good work and your faith is a blessing too.
When I think of it… I can see that there are so many things we can be grateful for. And I realise that there’s nothing much to complain about compared to being thankful.
True… and even if we have complaints, we can balance them out with grateful thoughts. TY! 😉
Another inspired post. I’m grateful for the life force too as I love your description of it. Most grateful!
B
TY too and I’m most grateful for the LF and blog love from you and others. 🙂
Nonsense is what I crave!
Good for you Ginger! Glad to see you here, it’s been a while. TY! 🙂
I read you all the time but rarely comment – I promise to do more so in the future!
It’s all good! I’m always behind and trying to catch up. TY! 🙂
I began keeping a daily gratitude journal about 10 years ago but it has slipped over the last few months. You’ve motivated me to re-commit! Thank you:-) Thanks too for liking one of my recent posts which lead me to you…a happy discovery!
TY for the reciprocity. Like Oprah, we all fall off and then come back to it… Blessings!
I’ve nominated you for “Blog of the Year 2012 Award” so please pick it up at http://chefdoru.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/awards/
TY so much for the generosity… I accept with gratitude. 🙂