An Attitude of Gratitude

By Astro Hendrik

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that, people can change their lives by changing their attitudes of mind”, William James once said.

There are lots of times that people become discontented with their lives as well as their society, and is that any wonder? There is a whole industry set up to make us feel more inadequate. We are not slim enough, or well-to-do enough, or stylish enough because we do not buy those recent products out in the market. The message rings loud and clear: We are not good enough!!! .

How many times do you find yourself thinking, “If only _________ then I would truly be happy”? The problem is once we got caught up in this kind of mindset, we will never be happy as there will always be something we’ll think we need to make our way of life complete.

As Paul Reid pointed out, “”Poverty is a state of mind often brought on by the neighbor’s new car”. This means that, every time we see our friends and neighbors acquiring something new, we often feel poor since we cannot afford these luxuries. But, the thing is, we are not poverty stricken, we simply think we are poor. This way of thinking is purely relative to whom you are comparing yourself to. If will just change your perception and look at the homeless, you would realize how truly fortunate you are. There is a roof over your head and food at your table. It might not exactly be your dream house and you might be eating peanut butter sandwiches instead of caviar, but you are protected and fed. In reality, many people don’t even have these things.

Most people do not realize the benefits of gratitude. When we sit and think about all the things we want but don’t have we set ourselves up in a downward spiral of disappointment and negative thinking which can lead to overwork, and depression. Gratitude, on the other hand, lifts our spirits and gives us a clearer focus on life as it really is. We will be content with what we have and therefore our attitude will bring us a spirit of peace and contentment.

You may say to yourself, but I don’t have much! Well then be thankful for the little things you do have. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have someone who loves you? Do you have someone you love? Do you have food on your table? Do you have your health? Do you have a job? Do you have a pillow to sleep on? Or a blanket to keep you warm? Do you have your sanity? These are little things but even the smallest things we can be thankful for.

Someone once stated, “If you haven’t everything you want, you must at least appreciate those things that you do not have that you wouldn’t want.”

There is always something we can find to be grateful for.

I know this sounds simplistic and I know that there are always things that many of us truly need…but if we start changing our attitudes and develop an attitude of gratitude then we will be in a better position to allow our positive thoughts to direct us in a way in which we can achieve more.

Gratitude is the initial step in achieving what you want to achieve in life. Viki King stated, “You will not be happy with more until you are happy with what you have.”

Let’s remember to try our best to eliminate these negative thoughts that impede our life’s journey and learn how to develop positive thoughts that will help us achieve our goals. Make it a point to incorporate in your daily life a mindset of Gratitude.

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Topics: Motivation | Comments Off

Tags: healthy thinking, improving yourself, leadership qualities, Motivation, Self Improvement

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