What is Gratitude ? & What are you Grateful for ?

So .....

First of all I believe that I would not be alive if I had not mastered the “Power Of Gratitude”

Wikipedia explains it as;- Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

The Dictionary explains it as :- noun
The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful: He expressed his gratitude to everyone on the staff.

When we where little we all had it drilled into us from our parents to use our manners to say please and thank you, and as little kids we didn’t really under stand the power of these words until we were older and some people still don’t know just how much power they hold ..

Now when I say power I’m not talking about power as in control, As that power that comes with Ego, or electricity power. I’m talking about that inner strength power, that mighty force of glowing white light of positive energy that gives you strength when you felt like giving up. It is a faith in the universe (even if you are not religious). I’m not here to tell you what to believe (that is not my job) I’m just here to ask you questions.. You know the answers… I just want you to be conscious and be present in your life, so that do you do not take anything for granted, to be grateful for everything, even the small stuff. To wake up and smell the coffee or the roses and live your life like it’s the only one your going to get ! Because guess what ! This is it !
You only get one shot !

This is your one shot to live your best life possible….

You see there are many times in our life when we can feel sorry for ourselves, even I have a “pity party” every so often but the difference between those living in a state of gratitude and those who don’t is that the Pity Party does not last very long, I snap myself out very quickly usually within an half an hour.. Depression is not a state/feeling I like being in and I use the feeling of “ The power of gratitude “ to snap me out of it quick smart.

I have had many reasons to be very depressed even suicidal, being diagnosed with a rare brain disease at 30 & being told I could be blind by 40, having 6 brain surgeries, almost going bankrupt, loosing $30K in a bad business deal, being dumped by more guys than any other woman I know, living in chronic pain every day … the list goes on … but even after all the heart ache in my life I still wake up every day with a smile on my face because I am alive, I’m breathing, I can walk, feed myself , speak, see, hear, taste, smell & wipe my own Ass and I thank the universe everyday for these basic gifts that millions of people around the world are not so lucky to be able to experience each day..

Just imagine for a moment if just one or two of those things were taken away from you for the rest of your life ….

Sense of Smell … Imagine never being able to smell your favourite perfume, or the smell of a freshly bathed baby, or fresh bread cooking in the oven, freshly brewed coffee or when you stop to smell your neighbours roses on your morning walk.

Sense of Taste… Imagine never being able to enjoy the comfort of your mum’s home cooking, the sweet chocolate as it melts in your mouth, a delicious glass of wine that complement’s a meal so perfectly .. sweet, savoury, bitter, Salty, spicy, all gone …

Feeding yourself .. Imagine not being able to feed yourself and having to survive on those milk based hospital formulas that are normally drip fed directly into your stomach, or having someone else have to cut up your food and hand feed you like an Infant.

Breathing … Imagine being hooked up to a ventilator that breathes for you or having to carry around a tank with tubes in your nose to carry extra oxygen into your lungs to help you breathe. Struggling for air with every breath and having the smallest of tasks leave you breathless.

Walking … Imagine walking up tomorrow and you could not walk .. your legs are lifeless or not even there … how different will your life be ..

Hearing… Imagine never being able to hear the laughter of children, your favourite band, the birds singing, even just watching TV or a movie would be a challenge..

Speaking … Imagine never being able to speak again .. How frustrated would you be going a day without talking - let alone forever .. I know I would go crazy ..

Wiping your own ass.. Imagine having to wear a nappy or being hooked up to a colostomy bag, or not having the use of you your arms that you could not wash yourself or wipe your own ass.
You See when we start to put these basic things in our life into perspective and are grateful for these it is really easy to feel that we live a VERY BLESSED life …

The first thing I do every day sometimes even before I open my eyes is thank the universe for waking up this morning, I then will list at least 4-5 other things i’m grateful for. These could be for experience I've had or people I met the day before or for events I have planed for the day, they could be for my health and happiness, it could be for the love and gratitude I feel for my friends and family, it could be for that i’m grateful for my home and comfy bed, my beautiful bedroom (below), food in my belly and all the little blessing in life we take for granted like being able to walk , talk feed ourself and wipe our own butt …

You will now really wish you had them when these simple things are taken away from you … and sometimes we all get so busy we forget to say thank you for the little things as well as the big things.

If Every day you just thanked the universe with sincere gratitude for the ability to see, taste, touch, hear, breathe, walk, smell within a week or two you will notice a massive change in your mindset and attitude.

I Strongly encourage people to get a gratitude journal and write down at least 3 things every day that they are grateful for, then when they are having a pity party they can look back and read over the last few weeks and see all the amazing things in their life that they have to be grateful for, this is a really powerful process especially for people who suffer from depression and other mental illness’s that can affect their judgement to see the positive in their life. Sometimes they just need to focus on 3 little things every day, it might be that the Sun came out, they fed birds in the park, they patted a puppy, a stranger smiled at them, they ate their favourite ice-cream. Anything that they can use as a positive focus to channel their energy into and when they are having a rough day they can read over all the thing that make them smile and grateful. It’s impossible to be depressed when your in a state of gratitude.

What are you Grateful for Today ?