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The Power Of Gratitude – Not Just On Thanksgiving

pumpkin dessertIt’s Thanksgiving again, and most Americans’ thoughts turn to gratitude. Or at least they should. After all, it’s not just about turkey, pumpkin pie, and cranberries. Instead, we should remember to express appreciation for ALL the things we’re grateful for. And as a nice side effect, we’ll experience the power of gratitude.

The Importance Of Gratitude

And so, it’s time for my self help blog to turn dedicate another post to expressing gratitude and appreciation. Of course, right now, it’s the season for gratitude, and people talking about gratitude. Even Oprah writes about the Power of Gratitude, and one of her favorite Law of Attraction experts, Michael Losier, the author of “Law of Attraction.”

And Losier talks about how important it is that we’re grateful. So if you’re wondering why you should express your gratitude, just know that there are lots of reasons. Appreciation of what you have is important. Get more specifics further down on the page.

Meanwhile, you may wonder, what if you don’t have what you want? Or maybe I should put it a bit differently – what if there are things you really want that you don’t have (yet)? What do you do about gratitude then?

Sometimes, it can be a bit difficult to feel gratitude in that situation. You’ll think, well, once I get those things, THEN I’ll feel grateful. But it doesn’t work that way. You have to feel and express gratitude FIRST. And it’s not really that hard…

How To Be Grateful When You Don’t Have What You Want

So what DO you do when it’s hard to feel and/or express gratitude? Sure, I can asy, “Just look around you. You have LOTS of things to be grateful for.” And that’s probably true. But if you’re feeling frustrated, it might be challenging.

And so I’ve decided to introduce you to my online friend Wendy Betterini, a really major Expert on the Law of Attraction. Wendy has developed an exercise that will help! She asks you to go from room to room, starting on one side of each room and moving all around it, and write down in a notebook EVERYTHING that you have.

Chances are that your notebook will fill up before you’re halfway around the first room. You may say, Oh, I get it! You do have a lot, even if it doesn’t include everything you want.

Chances are also that you’re able to read this right now, which means you have your eye sight, yes, even if you need glasses to read this. And you’re probably sitting in a chair, which means you’re able to move around and you own a chair as well as a computer, plus a desk, and so on.

I think you get the idea. In fact, here’s a cool quote by a wise person from around 2,000 years ago:

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,
but rejoices for those which he has.”
– Epictetus

How To Make The Most Of The Power Of Gratitude

The act of expressing gratitude is very powerful on many levels. It has benefits in the areas of health, both emotional and physical health, and it raises our vibration. It’s impossible to feel genuinely grateful and feel bad or depressed. And once we feel better, more things come into our lives which call for our gratitude.

One big key to making gratitude work is to express it. Don’t just feel grateful when someone does something nice for you. Tell them!

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” -G.B. Stern

In addition to doing the exercise above, you can also create a very effective gratitude practice by keeping a gratitude journal. Place it on your night stand, and write in it every morning and/or evening. Just make it a point to list several things you’re grateful for in that moment, and contemplate them for a few minutes. Feel your appreciation. If you feel frustrated, just read through your previous entries. And then… add more.

Looking for the perfect gratitude journal? There’s a very cool gratitude journal I recently discovered… and I liked it so much that I wrote a review about it on Squidoo. You can find both my review and the journal here:

The Buddha Doodles Gratitude Journal

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

More Benefits Of Gratitude

Just in case you’re not yet convinced, let’s talk a bit more about the benefits of gratitude. Sure, it feels a bit odd to talk too much about the benefits of gratitude. After all, we shouldn’t be grateful in order to get things, but to express our appreciation for what we have.

Still, the importance lies in actually expressing your gratitude. Whatever makes you do it and starting a gratitude practice will help.

Also remember that it’s important to be grateful every day, not just on Thanksgiving. Yet Thanksgiving is a good time to remember the power of gratitude, and to express the appreciation of all you have to be thankful for, whether it’s your loved ones, your health (even if it’s not perfect), the great food, the fact that you’re here to enjoy it all. And lots more.

And you don’t even have to stop with the things you HAVE. Instead, there’s an interesting wrinkle… For maximum power, we should also express gratitude for the things we anticipate in our lives. It’s the principle of affirmative prayer, and it also is a power activator of the law of attraction.

So go ahead. Express your gratitude. Make that gratitude list, and appreciate everything on it. Then do more of it.

And have a very happy Thanksgiving too!

Elisabeth

P.S.: Want to find out more about (and learn more from) Wendy Betterini? Check out this really cool interview I did with her where she totally spilled the beans on how to make the Law of Attraction REALLY work for you!

CLICK HERE For More Info!