Gratitude

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

Gratitude can change your life. Believe me, I live in gratitude every single day. What is Gratitude? Its being thankful and grateful for everything in your life. From my early teen years I was always a happy-go-lucky optimistic girl. I always looked for the good in every given situation and was hardly ever upset. A lot of people (though they never said it) thought I was in denial or living in some fantasy world. I wasn't, I just looked for the good in every situation and trusted that if I was good to others, only good would return back to me.

How I adopted this mentality? I have no clue. It could be my Mother who on one side is very positive but then she is also very negative. Or, it could be my father who is generally always happy. Either way, I'm glad I think this way!

Every single day when I wake up the first thing I say in my head is Thank You. I am grateful for waking up to another day of my precious life. I brush my teeth and I say Thank You once again for having a toothbrush, toothpaste, healthy teeth and clean water. I continue this through out my entire day, and it has become a routine.

By doing this, any hiccups that occur in my life- seem like nothing to me. If I have 50 things to be grateful for in one day, then why am I going to let one event change my mood?

Ok-- truth be told.. I sometimes get very irritated and get into a state where I think everything is going wrong and I lose it. However, it only takes me about 10 minutes to an hour max to calm down and look for the good in the situation. For example-- If you read my post earlier- I talked about how I was charged with a DUI. Well, when it happened I wasnt happy and in fact I was really upset yesterday to the point of tears.. but then I thought about it long and hard and came up with these things to be grateful for, for my DUI!:

- I didnt hurt or harm anybody. I could've taken someones live.
-Atleast I am alive
-I have an amazing support system. Family & Friends
-I have more time now to enjoy the simple things in life
-I have more time to spend at home which I will be moving from soon
-It was a wake up call for a lot of my friends who will now never drink and drink
-I may have saved my friends from getting in trouble or losing their life by drinking and driving
-I lose the privledge to drive my car for 3 months. Whats 3 months? Nothing. It couldve been 5 years!
-Its changed me for the better
-Some people dont even have cars. I do. Thats something to be grateful for too.

..Do you see where Im going with this? I know sometimes life throws a bunch of crap at you and its hard to look at the good in some situation, but there is good in every situation. Heck- you having eyes to read this is something to be grateful for! and for having the internet, a computer.. education for you to even be able to READ this..

Anywho- You get the point. BE GRATEFUL and say THANK YOU, always!