You don’t need to buy ‘gratitude journals’. But it’s good to take time each day to be thankful for the day. Just being alive is a miracle, as is having a pair of working feet, and your smile. A quiet thank-you can make the day start right.
Gratitude simply means you can focus more on the good. Nobody likes people who complain all the time, it brings both them and you down. And it’s known that truly happy people, are usually those who are most thankful.
Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos – the trees, the clouds, everything. Eat with gratitude. And when you put the piece of bread into your mouth, chew only your bread and not your projects, worries, fears or anger. Thich Nhat Hahn
Many people don’t like rainy weather, and start complaining of grey skies, late buses and wet shoes. But those of us who love the rain think it’s wonderful to warm your hands around a hot cup of tea or coffee, and enjoy the quiet tap of rain on the window. And rain grows grass and trees! The weather does not change. Your experience does.
Morning Rituals to Kickstart Your Day
When you wake up, appreciate the morning. Notice nature outside your window, or hear a birdsong greet the day. Take 10 minutes with a cuppa and thank God with morning prayer. Thank the bus driver on the way to work. Nod to the person who holds open a door or holds the lift for you at the office.
How John Discovered the Secret of Life!
John Kralik wrote a book called A Simple Act of Gratitude. His story is very interesting. Some years ago, he was a lawyer, who dreamed of being a judge in his American town. But life was not being kind. He was recently divorced, and estranged from an adult child. He was overweight and depressed. He lived in a tiny apartment that was freezing in winter. His business was failing. And his girlfriend had just left him.
So on New Year’s Eve (inspired by a small thank-you note that his ex-girlfriend had sent after he sent her a gift), he decided to write a thank-you note to one person from his entire life, every day for a year.
At first it was easy. He wrote thank-you notes to family and friends, then others around him. Of course it was not long before he was having to think back to shop assistants who were nice to him, or people he hardly knew, who once did something kind.
The moral by the way of this book is that you don’t always have to physically send the letters. Just writing them may be enough for the same benefits.
Anyway, the miracle was – within weeks, John’s life started to turn around. His relationships improved. His child got back in touch. He lost weight and felt much better. He was given back money he owed. And while a national crisis caused the bank opposite him to cave, his own little business began to thrive.
John feels that he had accidently discovered the secret of life. Which is why he wrote the book, to share his findings with others!
I turned to walk deeper into the mountains. I meandered the back paths. then I took a wrong turn, lost the path and became completely lost. I had no company that day, but the inner voice that kept saying ‘loser’. There was no-one I wanted to ask on that walk, who wanted to come with me.
My desires and faults had left me solitary, at middle age. It was New Year. There was new growth all around. It was time to make new resolutions. It was time to change. John Kralik
