What Matters Most Wednesday: Mindful Gratitude

“When you talk about any difficulties with money, a relationship, an illness, or even that the profits of your business are down, you are not talking about what you love. When you talk about a bad event in the news, or a person or situation that annoyed or frustrated you, you are not talking about what you love. Talking about the bad day you had, being late for an appointment, getting caught in traffic, or missing the bus are all talking about what you don’t love. There are many little things that happen each day; if you get caught up in talking about what you don’t love, every one of those little things brings more struggle and difficulty to your life. You have to talk about the good news of the day. Talk about the appointment that went well. Talk about how you love being on time. Talk about how good it is to be full of health. Talk about the profits you want your business to achieve. Talk about the situations and interactions you had in your day that went well. You have to talk about what you love, to bring what you love to you.” ― Rhonda Byrne

I don't often start with a quote, especially a large one but the one I shared above is monumental in changing your life. Self discipline in what you give attention to is key to whether you will live this blessed amazing life or simply struggle every single day.

Social media and even real life conversations are getting so frustrating for me because I hear so much of what is wrong instead of what is right. When talking to a friend instead of hearing the fun amazing things that happened in her day at work, I have to instead sit and listen to the thirty minute war in her emotions of the ONE interaction that went wrong out of 50 in which 49 of them were almost purely miraculous. Instead of having that realization that many breakthroughs were made on that day, she'd rather stew on the one conversation that wasn't so great and in a stark reality won't matter in a week from now.

Unless we are mindful about our thoughts and the things we dwell on, we will simply just fall into the rhythm that is being played by the people around us. START saying THANK YOU out loud for every good thing that happens. Are you sniffling a bit but have a friend who is struggling in chronic pain? BE THANKFUL that you are living a pain free life! Are you unsure of how you are going to pay for Christmas gifts, yet you have a friend who is worried about how he is going to pay his light bill that month? BE THANKFUL that all your immediate needs are met and be thankful that you are so blessed to not have that worry if the lights will be cut off. Are you having a bad day at work, yet you know someone who has been on unemployment for six months and their benefits are going to run out at the end of this month? BE THANKFUL you have a paycheck, and that you can make any bad day better simply by saying THANK YOU for every blessing you have in your life. EVERY ONE!

I have spent some time working HARD to understand this theory of gratitude. In it, I am learning that there is no one that can do the work for me. I am also learning that there are not many who understand the word Thank You, let alone LIVE the words THANK YOU! There is a HUGE difference!

I challenge you today ~ to begin saying Thank You out loud all day long for each thing that you are truly thankful for! Let  your heart and mind really be thankful. I have been brought to tears in gratitude because I am truly thankful!