The Power of Gratitude
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
— Epictetus.
Cultivating a practice of gratitude - in effect turning your gratitude practice into a programmed habit - is one of the most effective ways to feel more joy, fulfillment, and life satisfaction. It is also the best way I know of to help create the life you envision for yourself and your family.
So, what exactly is gratitude?
Gratitude is a SUPER POWER according to Maria Miller, LMFT and expert on the practice of gratitude (www.healingwisdomwithin.com).
Gratitude is about focusing on what's good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, even computer access.
Miller says in regards to gratitude: “Learn it, cultivate it, practice it and you will transform your life.”
She also provides a formula for how gratitude works!
Gratitude = Reverence = Presence → Abundance + Love + Support + Miracles
So how do you practice gratitude?
Say ”Thank You” - a lot. All the time! Say it in your mind. Say it in your heart. Say it out loud. Say it to your loved ones. Say it to strangers.
“Thank You” is a simple prayer, so simple it’s just two words. But these 2 words can transform your life.
Miller goes on to say… “Start with saying “Thank You” for anything. Right now - saying thank you for breathing, for being alive, for the bed you sleep on, for the house you live in. Say thank you for running water, hot water, a toilet that flushes. Say thank you that you can move your toes, that you have toes, or whatever else is working in your life, in your body.”
Gratitude is powerful because it forces us to look at what is working in our lives.
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Being a Gratitude Ninja
Now that you have a basic practice of gratitude down we can move on to a more advanced gratitude practice of being grateful for difficult things, hardships, challenges, obstacles
Miller provides the following personal example:
“The difficulties in my relationship with my father taught me about forgiveness, and the strength of love. It’s not like I wanted the difficulties, the hurt and pain. But I learned and grew as a result of those lessons and for that I am immensely grateful. I had to find forgiveness from deep within myself. And I am grateful for that experience. Grateful for having to dig so deep and growing into the person I am today, with the breadth and depth of emotions that I have and the awareness of human nature.”
“We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.” —Albert Barnes
Gratitude brings us Face to Face with the Miracle that is our Life.
Dr. Joe Dispenza has an even more expansive view of the power of gratitude. In his best selling book, “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself”, Dr. Joe talks about how to use the science and understanding of the quantum field to create the life you dream about through the practice of gratitude. He says…
“Generally, we are grateful for something that already happened or is already present in our lives. We have been conditioned into believing that we need a reason for joy, a motivation to feel gratitude, and grounds to be in a state of love. That's relying on external reality to make us feel different internally; it's Newton's model. When you are in a state of gratitude, you transmit a signal into the field [electromagnet or quantum field] that an event has already occurred. Gratitude is more than an intellectual thought process. You have to feel as though whatever you want is in your reality at this very moment. Thus your body (which only understands feelings) must be convinced that it is having the emotional experience of the event happening to me NOW.”
Try this Practice
Choose someone you care about and are in regular contact with. If you have a significant other, that’s probably the best choice. But, it could be a parent, a child, or a close friend.
(The rest of this example assumes you are doing this with your significant other)Enlist your significant other in doing this exercise together. It’s best to explain it to your partner and get their buy in before you actually do it.
Before going to sleep at night, face each other in your bed and take turns sharing three things that you are grateful about. You could share gratitude for your partner or anything else in your life. Be as specific as possible.
Start paying attention to what shows up in your life or how you are experiencing your life while you are doing this practice. I bet it will surprise you - in a very good way!
Keep doing this practice for a month and see what happens!
“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.” —Roy T. Bennett