Gratitude

You can find yourself being grateful for the things that happen in everyday life - you thank the paper boy, you thank the person who let you merge in traffic, you thank someone for getting something you want. This kind of gratitude depends on what happens. You are not grateful if the person does not let you merge in traffic.

Then there is the kind of gratefulness you have when something happens and you don't know how grateful you are until much later. It is being grateful in retrospect.

The highest and best level of gratitude is being able to be grateful from the deepest aspects of yourself no matter what is happening or what your situation is.

It is 'Being Grateful' with the emphasis on BEING rather than just be grateful. This type of being grateful takes practice and it is a process of learning how to do it.

In the beginning you can start with the everyday things that you are grateful for - the things that happen. If you can't find anything in the beginning it is ok - it isn't unusual. At the end of the day can you look back and really search to find something you are grateful for. If nothing else can you be grateful for the fact that you are breathing? Can you be grateful for the very little things like seeing the flowers in bloom, the stars at night, the temperature outside?

At first you might start with just saying that you are grateful even though you may not even 'feel' grateful. It is a process of learning and increasing your awareness.

Once you start playing with it, hopefully you will begin to see things in others that bring out the feeling of being grateful. You can begin to see the world a bit differently and start focusing on the good things and what you desire.

All of this leads to the state of 'being grateful' and really understanding the big picture.

It doesn't mean shutting your emotions off if something bad comes up. It is being able to feel these emotions and even being grateful for them. It is being able to choose your response rather than reacting to things.

With Gratitude and being grateful, you become more attractive. Your mind becomes more focused on the things you can do rather than the things you can't. Being grateful is what connects you to others and the power of creating what you desire.