Everyday should be Thanksgiving Day!

As I was taking a morning walk, I stopped to pick up the latest edition of a weekly magazine that I enjoy perusing through.  I came across an article that focused on the topic of gratitude.  The article further went on to divide gratitude into three phases; focusing on what we do have, surface level gratitude (external gratitude) and the institution of changes that would result in a deeper, inner sense of gratitude.

By focusing on what we do have and being grateful for it we foster a deeper sense of gratitude.  There is always someone who would gladly trade places with us to "be in our shoes".  As I am writing this post, I see the fire-engine from the station just down the street driving off to assist someone in need.  Whereas before I would be annoyed by the noise of the siren, I now acknowledge to myself that someone will be able to receive help.  I look around my home and reinforce my awareness of the gratitude I feel for my family and the things that I have.

Surface level gratitude can be thought of as a momentary pause in our thought process to acknowledge thankfulness for a certain possession or circumstance in our life.  After the instantaneous episode of gratitude that has occurred, we go back to the daily routine of our life.

The process of bringing on an overall, all encompassing sense of gratitude into our lives can be implemented through a series of simple internal changes.  The author of the article I read, Marie Harlow describes a "one-sentence formula" to be used in order to become a grateful person: "Think, Speak, and Act like a grateful person does."  She goes on to say that when a person does these three things on a consistent basis, that person will be consistently grateful.  The changes that come about from this behavior that instills a positive focus will soon begin to evolve. 


In my personal experience I have noticed that when I express gratitude for the good things that happen to me, those things just have a natural habit of reoccurring.  As I am typing this post, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do so and am grateful for all the other aspects that are involved with it such as being able to see and having access to a computer as well as the Internet so that I can share this with you.  In essence, I try to give thanks for everything!


So if you are ever in a situation where you feel "down in the dumps" about something, be thankful for your awareness of the circumstance and for the possibility of being able to examine your options on what you can do to change it.  Thank you Marie Harlow for the nice article that you wrote on the subject of gratitude.  If you would like to read Marie's article in it's entirety, click on the following link --->> Read Marie's article!
and go to page 12 (title: Thanksgiving - Why Not Be Grateful Every Day?)