BE GRATEFUL – It will change everything that is bad to good

 

 

Life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be  happy. What will make you happy is to appreciate what you already have.            

BE GRATEFUL!!

 

Many people create visions boards as a way to figure out who they are, what they want out of life, and where they want to go. But here’s a thought I heard from Gedale Fenster, maybe before we create our Vision Boards, we should first create our Gratitude Boards.

That makes so much sense. A person has to feel that they are complete Now, in the present,  before they can think about the future.  The sages say that the person who is rich, is the one who is satisfied with what s/he has. This is not to say that a person should not want more in life, that a person shouldn’t have goals, but first we must begin with what we are grateful for unconditionally.

Once a person feels blessed with everything they have, then more things come. That is because the more blessed your are, the more you are going to give to the world, and then the Universe, G_D,  will give back to you. That’s just the way it works.

When a person is grateful, they judge less (and maybe not at all), they see people differently, they aren’t jealous of others, they are humble, they don’t complain. they give others for the sake of giving. They are blessed! When a person is in their  soul state, he does not feel a sense of lack, only abundance.

Meditate on your abundance every day. Be happy with everything you have. And guess what, the more you are grateful the more you will get to be grateful for. That’s just how it is.

The Attitude of Gratitude Changes Everything

As Bob Proctor says, expressing gratitude instantly shifts your energy. It puts you in harmony with your source of supply so that the good in everything moves toward you.  As  Wallace Wattles puts it in “The Science of Getting Rich.” He said, “The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best. Therefore, it tends to become the best; it takes the form or character of the best and will receive the best.”

Many people express gratitude first thing in the morning or before going to bed at night. I also think about all that I am grateful for whenever I feel overwhelmed with problems.

Try this, when you are overwhelmed. Immediately change your state and count off on your 10 fingers, 10 things you are grateful for. You will be amazed at how not overwhelmed you will become. Because you can’t be overwhelmed, in a state of fear or confused, when you are grateful.

There are multiple effects of developing an attitude of gratitude. It  improves physical health and immunity against disease. Grateful people are more likely  regularly exercise and go for regular medical check-ups. Thankfulness reduces toxic emotions such as resentment, frustration and regret and makes depression less likely. It helps people avoid over-reacting to negative experiences by seeking revenge. Gratitude even tends to make people sleep better. It enhances self-respect, making it less likely that you will envy others for their achievements or success. Grateful people also tend to have better relationships. Saying “thank you” enhances friendships and elicits better performance from employees. It is also a major factor in strengthening resilience.  Remembering the many things we have to be thankful for helps us survive painful experiences, from losing a job to bereavement.

Gratitude as a Religious, Universal, Spiritual Concept

Though you don’t have to be religious to be grateful, there is something about belief in G-d as Creator of the Universe, Shaper of History and Author of the Laws of Life that directs and facilitates our gratitude. It is hard to feel grateful to a universe that came into existence for no reason and is blind to us and our fate. It is precisely our faith in a personal G-d that gives force and focus to our thanks.

According to Judaism

The Jewish Art of  Gratitude – When Leah, wife of the patriarch Jacob, had her fourth child, she named him “Yehudah,” which means, “I am grateful,” to reflect her gratitude to G-d for the gift of another son. The name Yehudah is the source of the Hebrew name of the Jewish people (Yehudim), revealing the very direct tie between Judaism and gratitude. The Hebrew term for gratitude is hikarat hatov, which means, literally, “recognizing the good.” Practicing gratitude means recognizing the good that is already yours. If you’ve lost your job, but you still have your family and health, you have something to be grateful for.

A simple and effective way to practice gratitude is by making giving thanks part of your everyday life.  For example, it is an established Jewish practice to recite 100 such blessings a day. The term for “blessing” in Hebrew is bracha, which comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for “knee.” When you say a blessing, it is as if you have bent your knee in an act of gratitude. The habit of saying blessings can remind you to be thankful when you hit a green light, or the salad is fresh, or the garden is getting the rain it needs, or your child came home from school as usual. Can you see how such a practice might slowly but insistently change your orientation to the world and your life?

A Jew must always feel this same sense of gratitude to God, continually recognizing that
he is the recipient of heavenly blessings – the antithesis of a sense of entitlement. A Jew
must acknowledge that he is a debtor who owes so much to his past – to his forebears and
his progenitors; he is not a creditor to whom something is owed.

According to Islam

According to Islam, one of the foremost duties is to be grateful to G-d for all of HIS blessings. There are three levels of thankfulness:

1. Realize and appreciate all blessings by and within the heart.
2. Say thanks with the tongue.
3. Express gratitude by doing righteous deeds.

The first Chapter of the Quran,  starts with ‘Alhamdulillah’ which is generally translated as “all praise is for God.” In reality, the word Alhamdulillah signifies gratitude in everyday life,  for waking up from sleep, after eating  meals, drinking water, etc. In this way, one’s entire life revolves around gratitude to G-d. Another example is Luqman, who is recognized with the title of “The wise” just because he is thankful to G-d. Luqman recognizes that G-d is the one who grants everything so therefore He is the One who deserves thankfulness.

Gratitude Quotes from the Bible

• Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Here we have two reasons to be thankful: God’s constant goodness and His steadfast love.
• Psalm 30 gives praise to God for His deliverance. David writes, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. . . . You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever”
•  First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will…”
• Hebrews 12:28 – “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” .

Gautama Buddha Quotes About Gratitude

• “Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else”
• “Pain in life is inevitable but suffering is not. Pain is what the world does to you, suffering is what you do to yourself [by the way you think about the ‘pain’ you receive]. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. [You can always be grateful that the pain is not worse in quality, quantity, frequency, duration, etc]”
• “A noble person is mindful and thankful for the favors he receives from others.”
• “You have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.”

In Conclusion

When gratitude is this well established, it is a sign of a heart that has been made right and whole. Gratitude can’t coexist with arrogance, resentment, and selfishness. When you open up to the trait of gratitude, you see clearly and accurately how much good there is in your life. Gratitude affirms. Those things you are lacking are still there, and in reaching for gratitude no one is saying you ought to put on rose-colored glasses to obscure those shortcomings. But most of us tend to focus so heavily on the deficiencies in our lives that we barely perceive the good that counterbalances them.

If we focus on what we don’t have,  and there is so much that we don’t have, then we will have a very miserable existence. We need to practice on goodness and gratitude and what we have, not on what we don’t have.

 

———————————————————————————————————————

More resources on Being Grateful…

• First a prayer, by Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich …”Oh Divine Providence, I ask not for mere riches, but for the wisdom with which to recognize, embrace, and properly use the great abundance of riches I now have at my command.” 
• Chapter 7 of Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles  You Tube Video
• Tony Robbins and Gratitude 
• Such a great video on Gratitude by Rabbi YY Jacobson
• The power of Gratitude by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
• Gratitude
• The Concept of Gratitude in Islam
• Gautama Buddha Gratitude Quotes

If this helped you and you got value, feel free to share with your teammates, on Facebook, and comment below.  

P.S. If you want to learn more about how to Be Grateful, how to change and shift the paradigms that aren’t working for you, Click here. Register for this incredible livestream event and change your life.