This morning you might have guessed that I am going to talk about Gratitude, gratitude for our very life, and gratitude for everything that is in our life.
The country singer, Willie Nelson, said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” Thank you, Willie! That is the idea we want to entertain this morning! Gratitude for life and all that is in this life can positively affect our entire experience of life.
We can have many reasons for feeling discontented with life, rather than feeling gratitude for just the fact that we are having the experience of being alive in a physical body for a time, to learn and grow as a soul. Ill heath, finding out we have a health challenge and dealing with the treatment, can make us feel as though we have nothing to feel grateful for. The death of someone close to us can make us feel like life is dark and we have difficulty letting in the light of gratitude. A divorce, or the end of a relationship, can make us feel like a failure with nothing to feel grateful for. And a lot of us are feeling anxious and distressed about the results of our presidential election earlier this month. We are worried about what is going to happen in the near future. We may be having difficulty sleeping due to this anxiety, and we are disappointed in our fellow Americans who voted for what we see as a looming disaster. We care deeply about our democracy and our freedom, and we can’t seem to see anything to feel grateful for in this situation.
I, personally, have several of these reasons in my life. My beloved husband of almost 52 years, Rev Mark, passed to a greater expression of life on the other side of the veil on October 1st, the day before my birthday. If you guessed that I did not feel like celebrating my birthday this year, you are right! My entire life has changed. And to add to the pain, I am one of the ones who is not happy with the outcome of the election. I have had to make an attitude adjustment, looking at all of the blessings in my life and feeling gratitude. I am blessed with a warm and comfortable home. I have a loving family. I am financially stable. I have good health. I have a spiritual life, and I have friends who support me. Feeling gratitude for these blessings doesn’t mean I don’t feel grief. I definitely do, and that is a natural part of life and the healing process. But when I have gratitude for my blessings I have a balance for the grief and it does not completely overwhelm me. A quote from John Wooden says, ”Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” I am here and I have to learn to go on to a new life for my children and grandchildren, who are also grieving the loss of their father and grandfather.
In an article entitled “The Science Behind Gratitude" from Radias Health, I quote:
“Gratitude is a positive emotion that involves acknowledging and appreciating the good things in our lives. When we express gratitude, our brains release dopamine and serotonin, two important neurotransmitters that regulate our moods and emotions. These chemicals can help us feel happier, more content, and less stressed.” End of quote.
So, when we find reasons to feel gratitude, we are actually helping our body to help us.
The article by Radias Health goes on to say: The Mental Health Benefits of Gratitude are:
Reduced Stress and Anxiety
“Practicing gratitude has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety levels. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that participants who kept a gratitude journal for three weeks reported lower stress levels and were more optimistic about the future.”
Improved Sleep Quality
“Gratitude can also improve our sleep quality. A study by the University of Manchester found that participants who wrote down things they were grateful for before going to bed slept longer and reported better sleep quality than those who did not.”
Greater Resilience
“Practicing gratitude can also help us become more resilient in adversity. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that more grateful people had greater resilience and were better able to cope with traumatic events.”
Increased Self-Esteem
“Gratitude can also help boost our self-esteem. A study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that athletes who expressed gratitude had higher levels of self-esteem and were more motivated to achieve their goals.”
When we feel good about ourselves we are able to think of ways we can engage in positive change and to feel we have the capacity to be effective. We are here in this life to learn and grow and contribute in a positive way to the greater good of humanity.
Suggestions in the article for: “How to Cultivate Gratitude in Your Life” include:
Keep a Gratitude Journal
“One of the easiest ways to practice gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal. Write down three to five big or small things you’re grateful for every day. By focusing on the positive aspects of your life, you can train your brain to look for the good in every situation.”
Express Gratitude to Others
“Another way to cultivate gratitude is to express it to others. By expressing gratitude to others, you make them feel good, strengthen your relationships, and build a sense of community.”
Practice Mindfulness
“Practicing mindfulness can also help you cultivate gratitude. Take a few minutes each day to focus on your breath and be present in the moment. Notice the sights, sounds, and sensations around you and appreciate them for what they are.” End of the article.
Another reason for feeling gratitude for our life and our blessings is that gratitude is a magnet for good, drawing more good things into our life. Rev Mark’s motto was “Positive thinking, positive results.” When we are grateful for all that is in our life, the Universe says, ”I guess they want more of this good stuff!” The magnet for good is gratitude.
Oprah Winfrey said, ”Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Eckhart Tolle said, ”Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
Plato said, ”A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things."
If we have a spiritual practice, we know the importance of feeling gratitude to God, Spirit, Source, the Universe, whatever you want to call it, we know it’s important to be grateful for what we are blessed with. The Bible has many verses about gratitude: this verse is found in 2 places in the Bible, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 107:1 and 1 Chronicles 16:34
If we have a daily meditation practice, which I highly recommend, we can consider these verses as we prepare to enter meditation, our time to be quiet and listen within to the Divine voice:
Psalm 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.”
James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” I like the reference to spiritual light, which can sometimes be seen in meditation, in that verse.
Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” We can invite the Christ consciousness into our meditation.
Rev Mark said the only thing he regretted in his life were the times he was not grateful for what he had in life. He was thinking of the times he wanted a different job, a house, or something else he did not currently have. Helen Keller said, ”When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Rev Mark had an experience of leaving an job he had loved due to health issues and going to an entirely new kind of work. The previous job had a lot of freedom. The new job was an office job with a challenging boss. Rev Mark longed for the old job so much that he did not initially appreciate the blessings in the new job. When he was able to gain some insight, Rev Mark practiced love and gratitude for the challenging boss, who eventually left. Though it was challenging, Rev Mark had learned skills that led to a position with a new company and a job he loved working with people he enjoyed. Gratitude paved the way for his success.
Another way to feel gratitude is to give to others. Contribute to a cause you believe in. Help a friend with something they need. Give someone a compliment. You might make their whole day and give them a reason to have a big smile! Tell someone how much they mean to you. Pay for the person behind you in the Starbucks drive through. Let someone go ahead of you in the grocery store check-out line. Ask the clerk how their day is going. Give everyone a smile. Donate a toy to the toy drive for children who may not otherwise get a holiday gift. What other ideas can you think of to give to others? When we feel we have enough to give, we are feeling gratitude for our blessings. When someone gives you a gift, smile and show genuine gratitude. Maya Angelou said, ”When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
And for those of us who are dismayed at the results of the election, we can make our voices heard and work peacefully for justice. We can’t allow ourselves to wallow in pity. We need to keep our consciousness in a higher state where we can see an opening to a better future for all. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
With Thanksgiving around the corner, I like this quote from William Arthur Ward, "Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” As people in my exercise classes, and other places I go, hear of Rev Mark’s passing, I have heard many stories from people who lost their spouse at a much younger age than I am. I realize that I need to feel gratitude for the 52 happy years I had with him. Yes, I hoped for more years together, but he is not truly gone. He has just moved to the other side of the veil where I cannot currently see him with my physical eyes, nor hug him with my physical arms. But I have his picture on the front of my cell phone and I tell him I love him every time I open my phone. Jean Baptiste Massieu said, ”Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”
What are the blessings that will unfold in this next phase of my life? I need to be in gratitude and open to change to see the blessings that will be there.
Meister Eckhart said "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice.” (pause)
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