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10th November 2006, 02:09 AM
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Practicing Gratitude
Practicing Gratitude
As Thanksgiving nears, I’m wondering how much difference it would make in our lives if we were truly grateful. Oh sure, we set aside a day when we claim to stop what we’re doing and give thanks for the abundance in our lives. But don’t you find it’s one of the busiest weekends of the year? The family, the food, the football. And what time do the malls open? It’s almost Christmas! Gratitude can be swallowed up in busyness. Yet if you asked me to name one spiritual practice that could improve your life immediately, I’d have to say gratitude. Practice gratitude. It’s the Swiss Army knife of spiritual tools, the all-purpose practice that has been discovered and rediscovered by every mystic and avatar through the millennia. It redirects the human journey. It opens the floodgates of abundance in our lives. It works like this: We know that our thoughts create our experience, right? Whatever we focus on expands. So when we focus on the good things in life, when we hold thoughts of blessing, what happens? More blessings show up! Gratitude is also a feeling. We know that our feelings are matched and reinforced by the universe. We are energetic magnets, attracting more of whatever we feel. That’s why bad days get worse; our vibration attracts ever more frustration. But it also means that flooding ourselves with feelings of gratitude brings about – you guessed it – more blessings! There’s nothing wrong with practicing gratitude in order to receive more blessings. Just be aware that the universe is not fooled. The gratitude has to be real. Before long, gratitude itself becomes enough. It feels so much better than negativity and gloom. It lightens every day, enhances every conversation, even makes you more attractive if you’re glowing with gratitude. Pretty soon, it doesn’t matter whether more blessings show up. Life seems full as it is. Yes, this is Spirituality 101, but it never hurts to remember the basics, especially as we head into the busiest and sometimes most stressful part of the year. Here are three easy ways to practice gratitude: Write gratitude. Keep a journal and list three things every night that you’re grateful for. Pretty soon, you’ll start noticing little things throughout the day that you can add to your list. Talk gratitude. Be relentless about it. “Isn’t it a beautiful day? Look at the golden leaves on that tree! Don’t you love Texas in the fall? I’m so glad I live here!” When your friends start complaining that you’re too @#*$&! cheerful, you’ll know you’re on the right track. Pray gratitude. So many people worry that they don’t know how to pray or don’t know what to say in prayer. Meister Eckhart, a 13th-century mystic, said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, that would suffice.” Instead of listing your troubles for God, just say thank you. Practice gratitude for the month of November and notice whether you feel better. There may be times when you reclaim your worry, but you can switch right back into an attitude of gratitude. By the time you say grace over the holiday turkey, you’ll be overflowing with true thanksgiving.
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Namaste, Ben, Licensed Unity Teacher as of 1/1/07 
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