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Gratitude
Leads to Joy
by
Anyaa H'redulla
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As
we express our
gratitude, we must
never forget that the
highest appreciation
is not to utter words,
but to live by them.
~ John
Fitzgerald Kennedy
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The
role of Gratitude in my life was
apparent to me even before I
watched The Secret DVD,
but that video really reinforced
it for me. In
her book Something More:
Excavating Your Authentic Self,
Sarah Ban Breathnach says:
"Being Grateful. That's the
first step to the path of
joy." Oprah,
among others, has frequently
advocated the use of a Gratitude
Journal. On
one of his shows, Dr. Phil
challenged a guest who didn't
appreciate anything she
had to write down one hundred
things she was grateful for
EVERY DAY FOR A MONTH! Yes...
one hundred things for one
month! I couldn't believe it was
possible, so I took the
challenge myself... AND
completed it. As
I said, I've been aware of all
this and more for some time, but
it wasn't until a few short
months ago that I really took it
to heart and began writing out
five things I was grateful for
on a daily basis. I use a
special little book that I keep
by the side of my bed and every
morning before I start my day I
write out my Gratitudes. A
strange thing happens when I really
think about all the blessings in
my life. A feeling of peace
comes over me and, true to Sarah
Ban Breathnach's words, I feel
true joy as the tears flow down
my face. What
an amazing experience! It
doesn't matter what the coming
day holds for me or how many
'problems' await my attention; it doesn't
matter how well I've slept (I
often have insomnia and don't
get to sleep until 4:00 or 5:00
in the morning); nothing is
meaningful to me except the
incredible peace and joy I feel. The
only way I can explain it is
that I am grateful for
Gratitude! It
has became almost like an
addiction. Every morning, I
can't wait to write out my
Gratitudes and feel that
feeling. I've even resorted to
putting a Gratitude reminder on
my Outlook calendar and when it
pops up, I say
a little prayer: "Thank you
God for all the blessings I have
and all the blessings I am
receiving." Then I click on Snooze to be
reminded every thirty minutes! Nowadays,
I look around me and recognize
little things that bring me
pleasure such as the comment
from an elderly woman who
referred me to her husband as
"...this young
woman..." (I'm 63!), special
conversations with friends, a
creative solution to a challenge
I'm experiencing, the return of
the Chickadees to my bird
feeder, the perfect card for
someone's birthday... any number
of previously unacknowledged
blessings. When we begin looking
for them, miracles abound and
the list becomes endless. Apart
from the wonderful feeling I
experience, my gratitude has
helped in other areas. You may
be familiar with Abraham Hicks'
Emotional Guidance System where
you use your current emotion to
determine whether you're in
alignment with who you are and what you desire...
or not. If
you are angry, resentful, bored,
or feeling anything 'negative,'
your Emotional Guidance System
is indicating that you are NOT
in alignment with your true
self. On the other hand, when
you feel light-hearted, loving,
happy, enthusiastic, or anything
'positive,' you ARE in alignment. When
I feel that joy, how can I be
anything other than in alignment
with my true Self? That's how
we're ALL supposed to feel...
ALL the time! It's
easy to get lost in worry about
some future event, or guilty
about something done or not
done, or angry over someone's
words or actions, but the simple
act of Gratitude brings us right
back to the present moment where
our power is. Nothing
ever happens in the future or
the past. Everything can only
happen NOW. The future is simply
our thoughts and feelings about something
we think is going to happen -
but we don't know whether it
will or not until that event is
NOW. And that event may or may
not be the way we think it will
be. The
past is simply our memory of
experiences which took place in
a previous NOW. As such they
have no power over us. The only
power we have is NOW - this
present moment, which is always perfect. By
making it a habit to look for
things to be grateful for, I've
found a way to help keep me in
the Now. Plus, by the Law of
Attraction, when I am grateful
for the blessings I already
have, I attract even MORE
blessings in my future!
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This
reflection may be used
in your newsletter or
on your website as long as nothing is changed and
it appears
with the following
credit:
Anyaa
H'redulla, The
Perseverer, has been
on a conscious
spiritual path for
more than twenty years
and is the author of Joy
Makers: My Tools for
Self-Empowerment available
at http://www.anyaahredulla.com
where she also shares
many of her personal
challenges and
encourages others to
pursue their dreams.
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