by Rebecca J. Clark
Gratitude. According to Zig
Ziglar, “The more you express gratitude for what you have, the
more things you'll have to express gratitude for.”
Well, that’s all fine and
good when life is great. It’s easy to be grateful when your life is easy peasy.
But what about the times when life isn’t so great?
About a year ago, one of my
friends recommended a book called The Magic by Rhonda Byrne. It is a book about
gratitude. Written by the author of The Secret, The Magic suggests how
gratitude can change our lives, that we will attract all we want when we
practice feeling gratitude. The author
wants you to start each day with a list of 10 things you’re grateful for and
why. A few of my friends had started this daily practice and they said it
changed their lives. According to the law of attraction, "like attracts like" and
that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive
or negative results (from the explanation on Wikepedia).
Well, I did my gratitude list
for a while, felt good about it, but eventually got out of the habit. Then last
October, my husband lost his job. And with the job market the way it is
(sucky!), the future was looking a bit gloom. I decided to start my daily
gratitude list again. And I’ve stuck to it every single day since then.
Have I seen Magic appear in
my life? Has my life become easy-peasy? Um, no. In fact, life has gotten
harder. My husband is still unemployed with no prospects; we’ve had some family
illnesses (MIL diagnosed with cancer) and drama; household issues (does
everything really need to break at the same time?). Etc, etc.
So, I guess this Magic
Gratitude thing doesn’t work then, eh? Well… I think it does. Every morning I
list 10 things I’m grateful for, 10 good things in my life. And each night
before bed, I think about 5 things that happened today I’m grateful for. Then I
think of the one very best thing that happened today.
By book-ending my day with
gratitude, I think it’s given me the correct attitude to deal with all
the crap that life has thrown my way lately. It’s like looking through the rain
to find the rainbow every day. It doesn’t make life easier (wouldn’t that be
nice?), but it certainly makes the negative stuff easier to deal with.
Side note: As I write this
post, I am also watching the devastating story on the news about the massive
mudslide across the county I live in. [read the story] Several people have lost their
lives, houses have been destroyed, and many people are still missing and presumed
dead, and the threat of massive flooding is imminent.
Boy, does this put my life
and troubles in perspective or what? My issues are nothing compared to this. I
am grateful I have a house. I am grateful I don’t live at the base of a hill or
in a floodzone. I am grateful that my family is alive and well. I could go on
and on.
I find myself stuck to the
news like glue as I watch the story unfold, wishing there was more I could do
other than donate to Red Cross [donate here]. Even in this devastation, miracles are
being reported. The man who just happened to go to the grocery store at the
time of the slide—his house is gone. The entire family who just happened to be
at a baseball game—their house is gone. The woman who decided to stop at
McDonalds—if she hadn’t, she’d have been driving on the stretch of road taken
out by the slide. The dog that had been swept 100 yards and presumed dead, then
was dug up the next day—bruised and beaten, but alive.
My troubles are nothing. I
have much to be grateful for. Now, excuse me while I go write down my gratitude
list for the day…
P.S. For the next seven days,
I will donate all the profits of my indie books (The Checklist Diet and
Shameless) to the disaster relief. So please help me spread the word.
The Checklist Diet
Shameless
This is a great reminder of all we have to be grateful for. I had hard times too, am on the backside of it now and am so thankful. I bought your diet book for the Oso donation and love the tips and tricks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this. I'm off to do my list of grateful things now...
Thanks, Kim. For commenting, for buying my book and supporting the disaster, and for being grateful. Some days are easier than others, eh? :)
ReplyDeleteWhat an inspiring, entertaining, and moving post. Very, very sad about the mudslide. I live in Oklahoma, where we are famous for tornadoes destroying our cities, so I understand some of what they are going through. (I live near and am from and my family and friend are in Moore, OK, which seems to get the worst of it, namely the horrific tornado in May of last year). My thoughts and prayers are with the people in that area. Thank you for your kind efforts. I just purchased both books, and I will donate to the Red Cross also.
ReplyDeleteI love your attitude on gratitude (hmmm, did I just coin a phrase, or have I heard that somewhere? 'An attitude of gratitude' :-)) I am going to try to make my gratitude list daily also. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Alicia, Thanks for stopping by. :)
DeleteNatural disasters are so heartbreaking, especially the ones that come with no warning like tornadoes and mudslides. Thanks for the donations--much appreciated.
Sometimes gratitude is hard to come by. But there is always something to be thankful for. Always.
I too discovered the power of Gratitude. I write a short Gratitude post on facebook every night before going to bed. It puts my mind in a good place by reminding me of all the good I have to be grateful for. I believe that puts my mind in a better place before going to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI find I'm not easily drawn into worry the way I used to be. And I tend to keep the word, believe, front and center as I send my books out into the world.
Living just across the border from Washington State, we've been watching as the mud-slide tragedy unfolds and my heart goes out to everyone. Kudos for your donation. I'm waiting to see if my Seattle writing sisters put together a benefit auction I can participate in.
cheers
Kathryn
Hey Kathryn,
DeleteI love your idea of posting your gratitude on FB for all the world to see. Gratitude spreads gratitude, eh? And it has helped me be less of a worry-wart. It puts things in perspective, as does the Oso tragedy.
Oh Rebecca, what an amazing post. I hate hearing the term 'natural disaster'...there is nothing 'natural' about having miles of mud slide down from a mountain to devastate entire neighborhoods. It's so heartbreaking. We see it all in our own parts of the country. Tornadoes, earthquakes, sinkholes, mudslides, flooding, fires and hurricanes...they come, they destroy lives, and demolish everything in their path...and all we can do is watch in horror, or offer prayers and help in some small way. Thank you for reminding me of all the ways I am blessed. I'd already purchased both books but will definitely donate to the cause. I'm off to make my gratitude list as well.
ReplyDeleteLori
That is a horrible term, isn't it? "Natural" should have positive connotations, not something so tragic. It does put things in perspective and makes me count my own blessings, yet I still feel so helpless. My heart breaks for everyone in that community.
Delete