11/24/2009

Thoughts On Gratitude




Happy Thanksgiving! Here are a few thoughts I wanted to share on gratitude.

Gratitude is the best non-prescription antidepressant in the world. I've never met a grateful person who was not happy - or a happy person who was not grateful. Gratitude allows us to enjoy life before things get better. In fact, when we want what we have, we always get what we want.

No one likes to be around complainers. When we focus our thoughts on what we're grateful for, we make the best of what life hands us. Gratitude awakens us to the miracles all around us - the road we drive on, warm water for our shower and fresh food to eat in the winter.

Gratitude moves us to share laughter and make loving human connections. Gratitude invites us to feel at peace about our past, gives us the capacity to experience true joy today and allows us to create a hopeful vision for tomorrow.

Life isn't easy. Yet once we accept that life is difficult, a series of problems to face and work through, it ceases to be so hard. When we accept life as it is, we are free to embrace it - to live life fully and intimately. Just being alive for one more day is a grand thing.

True wealth is an inner awareness we attain by taking personal inventory of our present assets - health, friends, family, work, food and shelter. If we don't appreciate what we have, more will never be enough.

One of the best parts of growing older is that most of those things we wanted and couldn't afford when we were young we no longer want. We learn to relish simplicity. The less we want the more we have. The simpler we make our lives, the more abundant they become. Spending unhurried hours with those you love is priceless.

The joy of life is the journey. This is it. It doesn't get better than this. So we can stop waiting. We can eat more ice-cream, go barefoot, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life is to be lived and loved as we go along. Like a roller coaster ride; it's the hills and valley that make it a thrill. The secret of life is to be grateful for the whole breathtaking ride.