Gratitude Read online

  know what to do when we're given the

  opportunity to “do with.”

  Friendship is an important gift from God. Don't just tell your friends how much they mean in your life. Show your friends how much you care with an act of gratitude.

  God, thank you for making each of us

  unique. Thank you for my friends.

  Make a commitment to

  show your gratitude by sharing

  it with others whenever you

  have the opportunity.

  Gratitude is a form of self-expression

  that must be shared. We cannot have

  an attitude of gratitude without

  having an object of that gratitude.

  Today, celebrate who you are. Yes, you have much in common with other people. But you're also uniquely you. Instead of fussing and worrying about how different you are, be grateful that you're unique. Celebrate being you.

  We cannot show gratitude without sharing it with someone. When we show our gratitude, it's a way of sharing our joy with that person. Even when we do something as simple as burning a candle to show our gratitude to God, it shares our joy with everyone who sees the flame of the candle. It strengthens their faith and reminds them to show their gratitude, too.

  Demonstrate gratitude in your actions

  every day. Gratitude is more than just

  a thought process and more than just

  a Sunday-morning church activity.

  Demonstrate your gratitude through

  your compassion and your tolerance.

  Sometimes we get so busy

  trying to get more, we forget to be

  thankful for what we've got.

  We can show our gratitude for life in even our smallest actions. Find a way to demonstrate your gratitude to the universe. Action gives life to ideas. When we start to look for ways to show our gratitude, we will find more and more to be grateful for.

  Make showing and sharing your gratitude a part of your life. If someone does something nice for you, share your happiness with that person. Send a card or make a phone call. If you believe that a prayer has been answered by God, share your gratitude with God. Tell someone, or thank God publicly at your worship service. If you have had a victory in your life, show your gratitude by sharing it with others.

  God, today I will show you

  how grateful I am.

  Here's an interesting phenomenon

  about gratitude: it's difficult to feel

  bad when we're feeling grateful. The

  mind has room for only one thought

  at a time. If we fill it with gratitude,

  there isn't room for negativity.

  Today, be grateful for your life. Allow that gratitude to carry over into your activities and to flavor all of your interactions. Think of one thing to be grateful about in each activity you do, with each person you interact with, and in each task that you do. Find the gratitude in your life, and you'll find joy standing right next to it.

  Comparison is judgmental. We judge this to be better than that, and this to be worse than the other. By comparing and judging, we deny ourselves the beauty of the moment and the wonder of the life that's in front of us now. Instead of deciding if a situation is good or bad, just be thankful for it—the way it is.

  God, thank you for every detail of my

  ordinary, everyday world.

  If comparing and judging is draining all the

  joy out of your life, start putting some fun back

  in it by applying a little gratitude instead.

  God, thank you for all my victories, for all the challenges you've helped me meet. Thanks for all those times you answered my prayers and met my needs. Help me rest and celebrate the good in my life.

  If instead of seeing the beautiful horizon or the clouds, all you can see is down, apply gratitude and humility to each aspect of your life.

  God, help me use the powerful

  remedy of gratitude as a tool for

  daily transformation in my life.

  Sometimes, the best way to say thanks

  is to simply enjoy with humble

  confidence the gifts and pleasures that are

  offered to us today.

  Look closely at the ordinary in your life. While you're being grateful, don't forget to express pure, sheer gratitude for how beautiful the ordinary really is. We can easily overlook the ordinary and take it for granted. The sun rises and sets, the seasons come and go, and we forget how beautiful and sensational the familiar really is.

  Reflect on your past successes. Forget about your failures and the things that went wrong. Think about all that you've done right in your life, the things that have worked out, the answered prayers. Don't just stare at your problems and everything that's gone wrong. Look at what's right in your life, too.

  God, please help me to accept

  all the life-changing experiences

  that I may have. Help me to see

  the wonder in rebirth and to

  learn your lessons.

  God, help me celebrate all my

  triumphs. Thank you for walking

  with me, even when I felt like I

  was walking alone.

  There are a lot of afflicted streams out there: greed, envy, negativity, regret, revenge, resentment, arrogance, victimization, hard-heartedness, bitterness, control, hatred. An afflicted stream is more than an isolated emotion. It's a position, a posture, an attitude, a pattern that will poison us and our lives. Feeling restless, irritable, and discontented is definitely an afflicted stream. If you find yourself in that stream, step right out into gratitude.

  We each have different gifts and pleasures available at any given time in our lives. Sometimes, we have to look to see what these gifts are. The pleasures may be as simple as a view of an old oak tree from our kitchen window, a big bathtub that fills up with hot water and comforts our body and soul, or a walk around the city block surrounding the apartment we rent.

  Families and parents come in all different kinds.

  Be grateful for the good passed on to you

  from your ancestors and your heritage.

  God, help me to not take anything for

  granted. Teach me to recognize,

  appreciate, and celebrate the ordinary in this

  world. Help me see how beautiful and

  meaningful the ordinary really is.

  It's easy to take many things in our life for granted: health, a loved one, friends, and food. When life proceeds smoothly, it's easy to take the ordinary for granted. Look at the ordinary in your life. How would you feel if it was taken away? Don't just be grateful for successes. Be grateful and celebrate the ordinary in your world.

  God, heal my heart toward

  all my family members. Help me

  accept each person for who he or

  she is. Then help me genuinely

  accept myself, too.

  Experience is the privilege of being human. I can taste the spaghetti. I can smell the salt of the ocean. I can feel the burning cedar taking the chill out of the air. I can love. I can hurt. What a sweet experience this is. And I thank God for every moment and feeling of each experience I've been given.

  Don't get angry when the time comes in your life

  to let someone or something go. Open your heart to

  that person, place, or thing, and say, “Thanks for

  teaching me to love and helping me to grow.” Then

  let go, without resentment in your heart.

  Take a moment. Review where you've been for the past year. Be grateful for all you've experienced and the people who have come into your life. Search your heart. Let go of any resentments. Take a moment and reflect on your successes. Be grateful for them; be grateful for all the ordinary moments, too.

  “When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is happiness. But later, when we don't have a toothache, we don't treasure our non-toothache,” Thich Nhat Hanh gently reminds us
in his book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. Take another look at your ordinary world. See how glorious it is.

  God, help me find at least one thing

  in my life that makes me feel good and

  gives me pleasure, even if it's for only

  one moment of my day.

  Remember,

  love is a gift from God.

  It's so easy to get hooked into the busyness of life. It's easy to focus on the destination and tell ourselves we'll be happy when we get there and forget to be happy and cherish the beauty of each moment of the trip. So often, we don't even know that we're living the best, most beautiful part of our lives right now.

  You might not be going through a time in your life that you relish, but try to find a few moments where you can catch your breath, look around, and say, “How sweet it is.”

  God, help me let go of my

  expectations and delight in what is.

  No matter what time it is,

  it's never too late to say thanks

  and have a good day.

  About Hazelden Publishing

  As part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Hazelden Publishing offers both cutting-edge educational resources and inspirational books. Our print and digital works help guide individuals in treatment and recovery, and their loved ones. Professionals who work to prevent and treat addiction also turn to Hazelden Publishing for evidence-based curricula, digital content solutions, and videos for use in schools, treatment programs, correctional programs, and electronic health records systems. We also offer training for implementation of our curricula.

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