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USING
GRATITUDE TO GUIDE
Meeting the Challenge of Change, Part 10
Choosing to change shifts our awareness so that we
begin to see patterns of behavior that we no longer want to express. It is
easy to feel defeated when we realize how much we have gotten in our own
way of having what we want.
It takes no great skill to see the glass half empty,
to find fault with what is present, to judge and compare and criticize.
When we commit to change it is easy to become frustrated with how little
water there is in the glass, how far we have to go, how much there is to
do.
If we argue with what is, find fault and criticize
ourselves or others, we waste precious energy that could be invested in
fueling the change process.
We cannot transform what we do not embrace. We must
take what is into our arms and accept it as it is. Including our
ignorance, our faults, our self-defeating behaviors. All of it.
A simple power move is to focus on gratitude. No
matter how little water there is in the glass, there is something to
appreciate. Perhaps it is the fact that there is a glass to fill at all.
Or that there is water, no matter how little, in the glass.
Many of us are waiting for change to happen and then
maybe we'll feel good about ourselves and what we have accomplished.
Maybe. Probably not. Because as human beings we are really human becomings,
always shifting, moving, growing, and changing. If we wait to be 'done' to
enjoy and appreciate then we are fools. Because we're done when we die,
and then not even then, for our body will change still as it decays and
joins the earth once more.
It's like saying to your tomato plant - give me some
tomatoes and then I will water you. Silly. Instead, each step towards
eating a plateful of freshly picked, washed, salt and peppered, tomatoes
can be a joy. Each opportunity to serve the tomato in coming into being
can be appreciated. The ground is tilled and fertilized. The plants are
set out and watered. The bed is kept weeded and watered. The rabbits are
kept away with a garden fence. The suckers are thwarted, and the vines
trained on wire. One day there is a ripe red tomato ready to be brought in
and savored.
As you learn to make gratitude an ongoing process
you will discover the world is more beautiful and your heart more joyful.
Rather than waiting for something 'good' to happen and saying thank you,
get in the habit of expressing your appreciations continuously.
This simple shift of focus can change your life. It
will open you up. You won't find yourself at the effect of life events.
Instead, through your gratitude you will be impacting your experience.
This will support you in staying open and committed to your goals, your
self, your life.
Leading with gratitude is a practical, easy way to
keep yourself inspired as you move forward in your change process.
Related Articles:
The Power to
Choose
Focus on
What You Want
Gratitude
- Bringing in the Harvest
Focus on
the Positive
QUOTES:
"If you concentrate on finding whatever is
good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be
filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."
~ Rabbi Harold Kushner ~
"Depending upon how you direct your
consciousness, you can use anything that comes to you as a stumbling block
or as a steppingstone."
~ John- Roger ~
"The blessings already are, and they keep
coming."
~ John Morton ~
"You can resent your bald spot or be glad
you have a head."
~ Timothy Miller ~
PRACTICALLY SPEAKING:
Express gratitude in little ways. Simple sentences.
Noticing the goodness, the blessings, the gifts of people, their essence,
their actions, their presence. Notice the goodness in yourself as well.
Get in the habit of saying:
Thank you.
I appreciate you for ___ .
I appreciate myself for ___.
I am grateful that you _____.
I am grateful that I _____.
Speak and write these often.
You will not only harvest a great deal of good
feeling, you will shift and open to receive the abundant blessings that
are present.
WONDER QUESTIONS:
- Where do you automatically focus and what can you
do to open yourself to the blessings in the moment?
- Can you find a way to enjoy growing your tomatoes
day by day, moment by moment?
- Are you willing to transform your life with your
gratitude?
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Copyright 2005 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:
Copyright 2005 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved.
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com
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