Gratitude transforms your world. Gratitude incites you to experience more good in your life.

 

What you give attention to expands. You can attract everything you want by having gratitude. The more gratitude you share, the quicker you will attract that which you desire.

 

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” —- William A. Ward

 

As you make gratitude a part of your day, all day long, the process becomes easier. You will be showered with more. Whether that’s material things or others giving you more of what you acknowledge like attention and appreciation.

 

Your world will reflect how grateful you are. The more you share your appreciation and thankfulness, the more blessed you feel. Nearly every time I drive into our neighborhood, I say a prayer of gratitude. I just love the feeling, the little lakes, and quaintness. It feels good.

 

Think about an area of your life you want something. How can you fuel it with gratitude?

 

Recently I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis. It hurts and is quite annoying with the sharp pain. It certainly has me being more grateful. I have been spoiled with getting around so easily.   A wonderful lesson in gratitude and not taking things for granted. I know it’s hard to be grateful for the illness. But, that’s not the point. It awakens you to areas of where you can be more grateful. Like assuming things are going to work for me, even when I might be pushing it past its limits or ignoring signs I should have paid attention to way before it got to this level.

 

Examine where you are taking things for granted. Is that your partner, your body or your car? Spend time giving thanks and appreciation.

 

How can you bring more joy and love to the repetitive tasks in your day? As you complete projects or chores, say a little prayer of thanksgiving.

What would it take to wake up to being a little more grateful? For instance, start your day with a prayer like “Thank you for the most incredible day!” Or, “I say Yes to the day. I am willing to have this as the BEST DAY ever.”

 

Find ways to be grateful for everything in your life, and your life feels better. It’s crazy how it works.

 

I struggled with this to begin with and it’s been an area where I have had great growth because of “expectations” versus “appreciation.”

 

I expect the lights to turn on in my house.

I expect the President to be of moral character.

I expect that my car starts.

 

Can you feel the frustration for me when this isn’t the way it is? What if instead, I let go of these expectations and appreciated all of the things that bring me joy and ease in life like the lights always working and my car being so dependable. Can you see how much easier life is when you trade your expectations for appreciation and gratitude?

 

The first step out of a scarcity mentality is being grateful for what you have while being willing to have more.

 

Gratitude helps you focus on what you want rather than on what you don’t want. Like when you are complaining about how things are or judging when things don’t go your way.  

 

Make gratitude and appreciation part of everything in your life. When you love what you already have, that positive energy attracts more abundance into your life.

 

Gratitude is a life changer. Use gratitude and appreciation to shift your darkness – whether from an illness or unhappy place in your life.

 

I know when I was in a dark place from my divorce, finding Sara Ban Breathnach, “Simple Abundance, A Day Book of Comfort and Joy” changed my world. Sara asks you to list three (3) things each day you were grateful for. At first, I’m ashamed to say, it was hard to find things because I was in such a negative place. Yet, even though I had the divorce, I had two fabulous children, a great job and a beautiful house, on and on. Once, I began listing things, my life and world changed. I was focusing on the blessings I had as well as being more positive.

 

It helps you see life is for you.

 

Use gratitude for whatever game-changer you want in your life by:

 

Begin using a gratitude journal. Write down at least five things you are grateful for in your day.

 

Write out five things you appreciate about you, then your family and your community.

 

Tell the people around you how much you appreciate them.

 

Gratitude is the greatest prayer and thanksgiving to change your world.