Grateful Living

As I sit here on the last day of November, still recovering from the overeating of Thanksgiving day, I'm very curious about the word Thanksgiving and the idea of grateful living. Google says thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude, especially to God. Prompted by the google definition I decided to check out some scripture, which led me to First Thessalonians 5 :16-18, which says:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I was instantly intrigued by the idea of giving thanks in all circumstances. Do I do that? Can I do that? Can I truly give thanks in all circumstances? As I questioned myself, I was drawn to Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening, where he states:

"To be grateful means giving thanks for more than just the things we want, but also for the things that surmount our pride and stubbornness. Sometimes the things I've wanted and worked for, if I actually received them, would have crushed me. Sometimes just giving thanks for the mystery of it all brings everything and everyone closer, the way suction pulls streams of water together. So take a chance and openly give thanks, even if you're not sure what for, and feel the plentitude of all that is living brushing us against your heart."

Brother David Steindle-Rast, a Benedictine Monk, has devoted his life to the study of gratitude and believes that the basic yearning of all humans is to experience lasting happiness, which he says is joy. He says that grateful living is to be grateful at all times no matter what happens and therefore reaping the joy that comes from gratefulness at all times, even in the midst of suffering!

Like Brother Steindle-Rast, I believe that at every moment life gives us the opportunity to do something with what life gives us and therefore grateful living means learning to avail ourselves moment by moment of that opportunity. At any time we have the opportunity to experience gratitude for things like our breath, our sight, our resiliency, etc.

We have an opportunity right here and right now, that other generation before us have not experienced. We have the opportunity to be grateful amidst a pandemic and to stretch more than others have had to stretch to connect with one another and be grateful for those connections.

So how do we practice grateful living? The first step is that we must get still and quiet. When we are being rushed along we don't see the moment by moment opportunities life is providing us with. Once we stop, we can intentionally look around for these moment by moment opportunities that life is providing us with to be grateful. Once we realize the opportunity, we then have the glorious choice to be grateful, to experience gratitude and through that gratitude experience joy.

It is my intention to give thanks in all circumstances as Thessalonians states, to give thanks for more than just the things I want, but also for the things that surmount my pride and stubbornness as Mark Nepo suggests and to be grateful at all times no matter what happens as Brother Steindle-Rast assures will allow me to reap the joy that comes from gratefulness at all times, even in the midst of suffering. Will you join me?

Some simple and effective ways I have found to deepen grateful living, that I intend to practice more regularly are the following:

1. Start your day with gratitude. Before your feet ever hit the ground bring to mind what you are grateful for. It can be just one thing and it can be as simple as gratitude for waking to greet another day.

2. Write your gratitude down. Not only does writing down your gratitude give you another opportunity to experience the gratitude, but when you get in the practice of daily gratitude journaling, you are programming your subconscious mind to look for things to be grateful for throughout your day and by the Law of Attraction we know that what we focus on grows, so the more you focus on what you are grateful for, the more life gives you to be thankful for!

3. State your gratitude out loud by sharing your gratitude with a friend. Voicing our gratitude out loud not only has the same benefits as suggestion number 2, but it also multiplies the gratitude because your friend is not also experiencing your gratitude and you are drawing his/her attention to gratitude which doubles the power of the Law of Attraction.

What are you really grateful for?