Happy Canada Day weekend to all of my Canadian friends! And to those friends and family to the south of us, I wish you a very happy July 4th holiday coming up next week as well. And a happy start to the summer vacation for all of you students out there as many of you just finished your school year this week. That’s very exciting! Although there is a shortage of summer camp availability this year due to Covid apparently, but at least we are not right in the middle of it all like we were for the past few years.
We are truly lucky…and this has had me thinking about all the things that I am grateful for.
Not too many people can say that they are trouble-free in this world or that they have life all figured out. And if they do, they are most likely just blowing smoke. Kudos to them if they do have the golden key and are living the fairytale, but I would hazard a guess that if they are proclaiming themselves to be perfect, they likely are far from it.
I am however, a big proponent of being grateful for all of the blessings that I have and spending time each day giving thanks for those people and things that grace my world. Whether it be through prayer, meditation, silent thoughts, or letting those I care about know how I feel, I express my gratitude every day and this does many things:
· It reminds me of how blessed and lucky I am,
· It shows those I care about how grateful I am to have them in my life,
· It makes others feel good about themselves too and improves their outlook on life as well,
Gratitude can even improve feelings of depression immensely. So, if you are feeling a bit low or even if you are feeling really depressed, I would encourage you to take stock of your life and really put some time into giving thanks for those things in your life that you are grateful for. You will be so surprised at how much this will brighten up your day and your outlook on where things are in your life.
When our minds get all jumbled up in our thoughts of our troubles, we get tied up in knots and it becomes very debilitating and difficult to move forward in a progressive motion. We can literally cripple ourselves by bad thoughts and feelings that we have the power to control.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we are all going to have our down moments or down days, when it just all seems too overwhelming and you can’t seem to muster the strength to pull together the Pollyanna vibes to do what I am talking about. But, when you can, try to put these things into practice as it is surprising how much it will help.
Sometimes, something as simple as being able to take a walk and take in some beautiful scenery, or meet up with a good friend, give a quick call to a good friend, pick up your favourite latté and enjoy every sip as you think about your blessings, watch your kids as they sleep or play…whatever it might be that brings you joy. But the key part about this that I find important is to really appreciate what it means to you and how much it impacts your life.
It is easy to get derailed by things in everyday life. Whether it is by people that we come across that do their best to crap all over our day or events that occur that are beyond our control, we are faced with all kinds of things that can impact our ability to cope. However, when we look at the bigger picture of what we have going for us, we can see that these setbacks are merely bumps in the road and we can’t let them get in the way of our bigger purpose or impact our ability to appreciate all that we have.
I think it is especially important that we instill this in the next generation as well, as it seems all too often we see young people today being given so much that they take for granted all that they have. I’m sure that this too is a bit of a sign of my age and that every older generation says this, but we do need to take our responsibility seriously and ensure that we are raising a younger generation of decent, grateful and contributing members of society.
After all, if you believe that what you focus on becomes your reality, then consider putting this into practice. The more emphasis you put on the positive, wonderful things in your life, the more of them you will bring into your life. This is just the simple law of attraction. You will bring into your life what you focus on. This is nothing new. But by adding gratitude to the equation, you add to it the ability to be truly aware of the power of all of the great things around you and what they are contributing to your life.
And as I have talked about before, although it may seem strange, sometimes we should even be grateful for our failures and some of the negative things in our lives as they are almost always a gateway to something new and better and they are absolutely always a learning experience and a chance for us to better ourselves in some way and grow and expand our world.
I would love to hear what you all are grateful for in your life. Drop me a line and let me know your thoughts on how gratitude plays a role in your life and if you find that it makes a difference in the way you perceive the world around you. Let me know if you have found that the more grateful you are, the more abundant your life seems to become. Do you think that this is just happening because you are at a heightened awareness of your surroundings at that particular time? Or do you think that we really do have the power to utilize positive energy in the form of gratitude and manifest great things into our lives.
So, I thought I would start off my first guest appearance on the show by having my son Grayson come on with me to discuss gratitude with us a bit because, he is of course what I am most grateful for in my life. So, I would like to introduce you all to my son Mr. Grayson. Hello Grayson…
So, Grayson, I am curious about what you are grateful for in your life. Can you share with mummy and the folks that are listening to this podcast what you are most grateful for in your life?
Discussion with Grayson
I look forward to hearing from you. And please send in your advice questions and comments through the DearTiff.com website.
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