Gratitude Just Makes Sense

Rosa Say

Wednesdays on my blog are supposed to be about social media and blogging, but since we're about to start a new year, I'm going to make an exception (as I did last Wednesday with my post, Miracles All Around Us/Why I Write Fiction).

And what better way to start the new year than with a post about GRATITUDE?

Gratitude isn't just about being thankful. 

Gratitude changes us neurologically, makes our brains stronger, just makes sense. 

Gratitude burns away the shadow of life's circumstances, like the sun burns away fog--that empty mode we can lock ourselves into, where we're unable to shift our energy from bad to good.

Being grateful isn't always easy.  During my younger days, I always wanted more.  More possessions, more hurdles crossed, more ambitions realized, more of everything.  Heck, with every gift life doled out to me, I was eyeing the next rung on the ladder--a ladder with no end in sight, a latter to nowhere.  Naturally, when someone suggested I be grateful for what I already had, it just conjured up feelings of guilt.

As I became older, I realized that having more isn't always an option. 

Being grateful for what I already have, is.

In a recent article in Science of Mind magazine (December 2010), called "Gratitude, Empty Platitude or Spiritual Practice?" by Karen Warren-Severson, I discovered that gratitude is a life enhancer.  It:

• improves mental health
• increases energy
• boosts the immune system
• strengthens social relationships

Isn't that what we all need to keep their heads above water, to keep on keeping on? 

Gratitude also results in:

• less stress
• better sleep
• more effective coping
• an open heart

Sure, life is hard.  I'm not going into detail about life's many stresses.  I know that you know what I'm talking about.  It's hard to stay buoyed when the world seems to be caving in on you.

But what's the alternative?

Despair?

No thanks.  I'd rather be grateful and believe that something good lies ahead than sink into the dark pit of discouragement and despair.

SnoShuu

For me as a writer, something good ahead means getting an agent and then a publisher and an editor and having my book available at major bookstores and online (There I go, reaching out again).

But in the mean time, I feel grateful just thinking about being grateful--Pollyanna and her "Glad Game" grateful. 

Make fun of Eleanor H. Porter's character if you will, say her attitude is unrealistic, but staying positive makes sense.

Start small.

Right now, for instance, I'm grateful for having completed four novels and starting a blog (yes, technologically-challenged me).  And I'm grateful that you're here reading this now.

According to Karen Warren-Severson, "gratitude pulls up over nine million hits when you type it in your Internet browser."  How's that for timely?

With the New Year only three days away, I'm starting fresh with gratitude in my heart.

What we look for is what we find--lack or abundance, heaven or hell. 

One's perspective is one's future.

Hope you find much to be grateful for in 2011 and that you come back to visit my blog again soon.