An Attitude of Gratitude
Today’s gratitude post is from Kathy L. – she is over at BellaOnline. One thing that I really liked about her article is that she talks about that Gratitude is not necessary easy to implement all the time. I have said it before – gratitude is simple… but not always easy.
An Attitude of Gratitude
I have a post-it on my computer at work with only one word, “gratitude”. The thing that sometimes bothers me is that it is there for me to see every single day and yet there are days I don’t see it at all. It actually becomes invisible. I only seem to see it when I need to see it and that was not the intent of putting it there in the first place. The intent was to notice it many times per day and acknowledge gratitude with a very quiet “thank you” or whatever I wanted to say to my Higher Power.
One of the important things I learned in the beginning of 12 Step Recovery was to be grateful. Well, actually I had to relearn how to be grateful because for so long it didn’t seem as there was much in my life for which to be grateful. The kinds of things I felt grateful for always seemed to follow one of those foxhole prayers that most addicts tend to do quite well. Being grateful for the fact that the cop didn’t stop you or that you found that bottle or pill you lost doesn’t exactly constitute the type of gratitude recovery suggests.
Gratitude isn’t always that easy. Gratitude means being grateful for the daily struggles of life, some of which can seem rather unbearable. I was told I didn’t have to mean it. All I had to do was pray it. It is easy to be grateful for gifts. The idea of being grateful for difficulties is that these are put before us so that we may learn and grow. Hopefully, the difficulties eventually either disappear completely or actually become gifts.
What I know about gratitude today is that because of a 12 Step Recovery program I was able to enjoy my daughter, her husband, and my three grandbabies for over a week. I felt more gratitude for my recovery and my Higher Power than I had in a while because I was in the midst of living in gratitude. I was living in that “now” that sometimes seems so elusive. And while I was in the middle of all of that gratitude I was confronted by a most difficult issue by another member of my immediate family. I had to remember how important gratitude was so that I could accept this new problem and know that it wasn’t about me. I had to remember gratitude so that I could accept this issue and work through it without anxiety and worry. If I do not accept this problem with gratitude, it could easily become something I want to try to control or worse yet, obsess over. I cannot afford to do either.
Gratitude toward everything that happens in my life is connected to the faith and trust I have in my Higher Power. A struggle today may be a gift tomorrow. Or maybe the struggle just hangs around for a long time until I can learn to accept it. I don’t know because I don’t have the plan for my life.
What are the things today that you are grateful for? Think about them, write them down, or share them with another. I’m a great procrastinator but I’m really going to try to practice this. My post-it is getting kind of ratty looking anyway.
Namaste’. May you walk your journey in peace and harmony!
Paul,
I’m grateful for you every day!
[…] There was a time when I was in a state of utter despair, immersed in guilt over promises made on which I had not delivered. I went to my vocal coach, Fred Wilkerson, weeping copiously. He asked what was the matter. I responded, “I’m going crazy. I am almost at the brink of suicide.” He offered me a legal-size, lined yellow pad and a pen. He said, “Write down your blessings!” Furious that he didn’t understand my condition, I shouted, “Don’t talk nonsense, I’m telling you I am going crazy.” He said, “Write down that you could hear me say ‘write down’ and think of the millions who cannot hear the cries of their babies, or the sweet words of their beloveds, or the alarm that could help them seek safety. Write down that you can see this yellow pad and think of the millions on this planet w?ho cannot see the smiles of their growing children or the delight in the faces of their beloveds, or the colors of the sunrise and the softness of the twilight. Write down that you know how to write. Write down that you know how to read.” Wilkie, as he was known, gave me that lesson in 1955. Fifty-five years later, I have written 31 books, essays, plays, and lyrics for songs — all on yellow pads. I remain in an attitude of gratitude. […]
Thanks for sharing, Brenda! That is awesome!