Express Your Gratitude No Matter What

I have a lot of gratitude for all the wonderful subscribers of the Gratitude Burst. Many people have been around for years! However, not everyone sticks around; some decide that it is not for them and they leave the list. A subscriber of the Gratitude Burst unsubscribed yesterday and was kind enough to provide the following reason:

I believe in gratitude but I can’t identify to many things that are written because I don’t have a plush life, and problems such as those written about seem quite petty in comparison to what many others and myself have gone (and are going) through. I can’t travel from coast to coast, I don’t see my family hardly ever, I don’t live a life of comfort, and missing a bus or a plane isn’t the worse thing that could happen to me. I believe in being grateful, but I would identify better with an author who has been abused, suffered hunger and poverty and much more. The author is a good guru for the rich and well-to-d
o.

Honestly, this took me by surprise on a couple different levels. It is an eye-opener to me because I have my own perceptions of what I am writing about, to whom the message is delivered, and the message I am trying to convey. That reader’s comments certainly did not align with what I thought I was doing!

Gratitude-TreeFirst, I try my best not to speak to a certain economic ‘class’ of people. I am not targeting the ‘Rich and Famous.’ I am not specifically reaching out to those experiencing extreme financial difficulties. I have been asked if I am reaching out to various religions – which I do not. My efforts are to reach out to everyone. I am not consciously segregating in any way. If anything, I am speaking of my personal experiences and while that may
align with some groups, I try to be all-inclusive.

Do I have a comfortable lifestyle? I think I do. But that is completely subjective. I am sure there are people that can not imagine living my lifestyle because it is too ordinary, too low key, too plain, and too cheap. On the other side of the argument, I am sure there are people who think I have it made! They see that I have a house and a car. I have a job. It is all relative.

The point I am trying to make is that everything I talk about can (and I think should) apply to where ever you are in your life. You should express your gratitude for whatever you have regardless of how much or how little. I think it is even MORE important to express your gratitude if you feel you have to little in your life.

If you review the Gratitude Bursts, you will see that I try to speak not only about materialistic things, but the more important non-materialistic things as well. I write about expressing your gratitude for your family, your friends,
your health, your spirituality, your life! These are equally, if not more, important that the material things in your life.

Finally, if you are in a ‘difficult’ place in your life, please have hope! I was really distraught over the comment, “I believe in being grateful, but I would identify better with an author who has been abused, suffered hunger and poverty and much more.” I certainly hope that the term identify is just in terms of  a rapport. Please do not stay in a place where all your friends and associates are abuse victims, suffered hunger, poverty, and more. If you concentrate on those types of feelings, emotions, situations, or surroundings, you will never be able to move on to the better life that you imagine.  You should always be looking for a better life. You should always be trying to achieve more. Do not stifle your life by associating with the same type of people because you will never rise about it.

I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this top
ic. Do you think I am targeting a certain group or area? Please let me know if that is what it seems like! Also, if there is a topic that you would like to see discussed, let me know! Hmmm… I am thinking it might be time for another survey 🙂 Or even another Gratitude Conference Call!

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support. And, if you decide to leave the Gratitude Burst, please let me know why so I can use your feedback to make it as good as I can.

Be Well.
Paul.
The Gratitude Guru

13 Comments

  1. Lidiya on December 22, 2010 at 1:58 am

    I think the gratitude bursts do exactly what they’re supposed to. They brighten up your day by letting you forget your troubles and be grateful. Its a little exercise each day to be bigger than the box you’re sitting in.

  2. Alison on December 22, 2010 at 5:06 am

    Just keep doing what you are doing Paul, just like everyone has a different way of being in the world we all also have different ways of recieving the messages we need to hear.
    You can only be you and speak your truth the way that is right for you, for every person who doesn’t connect with your message there will be many many more who do and who value your reminders to live in gratitude.
    i can empathise with your reader as like many people in the world my problems were huge,issues of basic survival also, my life has turned around by gratitude, the simple act of being thankful for what i had and choosing to be happy when i was far from it….the change in my life is phenomenal. The change can only begin in us as individuals and you are doing a great job in supporting people to make the change in attitude.
    Thank you.

  3. Erik on December 22, 2010 at 6:06 am

    Paul,

    Thank you for the Burst and the blog. A majority of people do not understand the time and dedication that it takes to keep a blog running.

    The ex-subscriber you mention is a very unhappy person who likes to dwell on the problems and situations in their life. I recently posted a quote, ?”There are two primary choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, or to accept responsability for changing them.” Your ex-subscriber would rather complain about the lot life has given them then make the changes necessary to improve.

    Don’t take the comment personally and don’t change the direction or tone of the blog. You can not please everyone and you can’t help people who don’t want to be helped.

    Erik

  4. Kim on December 22, 2010 at 7:27 am

    I feel for the person who unsubscribed. Even tho I’ve never been abused, suffered hunger or poverty, I have gone thru the pain and agony of losing my husband to a disease there is no cure for. At the time, I felt mentally abused by the doctors who had no answers, I hungered for a love that I knew was going to leave me and poverty…well, I was mentally bankrupt to say the least.
    There are so many forms of abuse, hunger and poverty. If I hadn’t had the option of thinking positive thoughts, feeling gratitude for what I did have, and above all have hope, I don’t think I would have survived.
    Gratitude has no limits…you can feel it no matter where you are in life. To be reminded daily of that is a gift. To think that somehow the author should have it worse than me is a shame. We are all here to learn from one another no matter what our situation.

  5. Lisa Anderson on December 22, 2010 at 8:30 am

    I love your posts Paul! Some days I’m on top of the world and the bursts simply reinforce my feelings, other days, they are just what I need to be reading that day to lift me up. I think you are spot on with the suggestion that the unsubscribed person not continue to “identify” or hang with the people he or she is describing. Have a wonderful Christmas!

  6. Cathy on December 22, 2010 at 9:15 am

    I think sometimes people have fallen into such a deep depression after going through some of these things, and it seems impossible to them that their life could be a more normal life. If these people could hang on and keep reading what others have written and try to believe more positively, their lives can change for the better, if for no other reason than they have a better attitude which draws people to you. I’ve gone both directions and being positive definitely attracts people much more than negativity and makes you feel better about yourself.

  7. Angela on December 22, 2010 at 9:28 am

    No matter where we are in life or what our circumstances are, we always, always have something to be grateful for. There are so many others who have so much less or have more serious life issues to deal with. Just this morning I was driving to work and thanked God I was not suffering something more serious than the cold I’ve been fighting all week. I will be better in a few days. While I was at it, I also promised God that I would try and not complain about anything anymore. I am truly grateful that I have such simple conveniences like clean running hot and cold water, food, shelter, a job, a bank account — I can go on and on. People should focus on this more. They really don’t realize how lucky they truly are and how much more they have than majority of the world population.

  8. Bill on December 22, 2010 at 10:37 am

    Keep up the good work Paul. I know it comes from your heart and I am grateful to be on your list.

  9. Kelly on December 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    I agree with the other posters here. Alison wrote beautifully about my beliefs. Sometimes hearing a story about overcoming adversity will relate to some people going through something difficult, sometimes not. Regardless, your posts are wonderful and do not seem to me, in any way, targeted to specific groups of people. And yes, it is good to remember to be thankful for all that we have and all that we are.
    I truly appreciate you.

  10. Cheryl Beilke on December 22, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    It IS all subjective and what you make of what you have is up to you. Some people are “happy” living in 600 sq. ft while others are strangely “unhappy” in 6000 sq. ft. No one knows what you’ve been through but you (and God). No matter what, there IS HOPE. I pray that the recent unsubscriber will find something positive to help lift him from where he is now and that one day he can look back and say “how foolish I was then”. Keep on keeping on Paul, it brings sunshine to those sometimes sunless days.

  11. Cynthia on December 22, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Feeling grateful leads to feeling grateful, etc.
    Just keep doing what you are doing. It’s a good thing.
    Not every gratitude burst speaks to me, but some do and for that I am grateful. Thanks. You can’t be all things to all people. And I believe people get to gratitude when they are supposed to. Sometimes it takes longer.

  12. Menka on December 22, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    What we have that we give, so Paul has gratitude message to give out to the world, it is up to people to see how wonderful things to read gratitude burst everyday. Some people may not like it, that is completely Ok, but many of us love it.

  13. gail on December 22, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Paul –
    It doesn’t matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn’t matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or ten thousand years – we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on. Paul He is still a victim stuck in his circumstance He will have to be ready for himself to see past all that pain and fear.

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