Practicing Gratitude

Is Gratitude Your Roomate?

I was having a unusually bad day the other day and I decided that I would do something to change that.  I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up a book by Marci Shimoff called “Happy For No Reason”.

I started reading and I instantly felt better.  Let’s talk about how we feel when we are practicing gratitude.  What are some examples of gratitude?  Maybe when your son or daughter who is away at college just calls to say hello.  What about when we are traveling to visit relatives and we pull up in the driveway and get that first big hug?  Are you grateful when someone does something out of the blue for you?  Are you grateful for a cloudy day?  Sounds like a strange question.  You can be grateful for anything.  You can even be grateful for criticism.  It’s up to you on how you look at it.  Maybe that criticism can help you become a better person.  Who knows?   I live in Arizona.  I say aloud quite often…” I love water.  Water tastes good.”  People make fun of me for saying it, but really, water is good when you live in the dessert.  Sometimes I’m grateful for those cloudy days especially in the summer heat.

Benefit of Practicing Gratitude

What can be gained by practicing gratitude?  When you are grateful, a chemical reaction kicks off in your body and signals pleasure to your brain.  When we are grateful our energy expands.  Certain things contract our energy like hate, anger, revenge, blaming, etc.  Gratitude is a very powerful force that expands our energy.  Marci Shimoff,  explains that we often look at gratitude like that fine china that we rarely take out.  Or maybe it’s like those special towels that are only allowed to be displayed on special occasions.  I choose to look at gratitude as my roommate.  We can be grateful for anything.  Try it.

Gratitude Exercises

I read a quote in “Happy For No Reason.” from an unnamed Zen Master.  I want to share it with you.

“Thank you for everything.  I have no complaints today whatsoever.”

I say this everyday.  Even though I consider myself a positive person an awareness came over me.  I do complain.  Awareness is a good thing.

Please share you comments and suggestions below.  I’m looking forward to your own gratitude exercises.