The Perspective of Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching and as we enter into this season of gratitude, I have been doing an inventory of all the things and people I am truly grateful to have as a part of my life.

 As I began to delve more deeply into this gratitude exercise, I realized how easy it is to default to the things that are going well in our lives as a source of gratitude and to view the things not going so well as a source of ire. The more I think about it, the more I realize that true gratitude is not about being thankful for only those things that bring us comfort or harmony, but also developing a sense of gratitude for the areas in which we are tested, stressed and maltreated. This is important because it is those areas that truly shape the mettle of who we are as we strive to become more well-adjusted beings.  

If it is difficult to find anything to be thankful for at this time, consider the following:

·      Gratitude is not an emotion, as much as it is a strategical perspective that can be used to create a more harmonious mindset.  This harmonious mindset creates an environment in which all things both good and bad can work together for your best positioning. In all things, seek better positioning.

·      True gratitude should move us to look at every incident (good or bad) as a teachable moment in which life lessons reveal to us our truest nature.   You can do more and have more, once you operate in the truth.

·     The root of thankfulness is hope. By looking at every unfortunate situation as penance or persecution, we disqualify ourselves from benefitting from the element of hope within the situation.  Trials should refine you and make you better, not destroy you.  The absence of hope is defeat.

·      There are going to be trying times in which we are disappointed, confused, overleveraged and underappreciated. It is in those areas/valleys that we must be most thankful because we have an opportunity to develop sustainable integrity. Hard times better prepare us to appreciate the overwhelming successes that await us in our lives at the mountain top once we are thankful for the shadows in the valley.

·      Send a shockwave through the universe by expressing gratitude for things you'd rather not endure, as well.  The more we apply this discipline towards the deficits in our lives, the more apparent it becomes that these challenges are just as crucial to our success as matters that are going the way we desire.  

Think of areas in your life that could be sources of complaint or dissatisfaction and unleash the magic that happens when you begin the process of expressing gratitude for them, too.