"The Principle of Gratitude"

Gratitude in Action

We did decide that principles were cause, no? So what does this cause? How would we find out? Like all principles we really have to put them to work before we can see what they yield. Putting gratitude to work is done simply through finding things that we can be grateful for. What are some of those? How about smells? I am grateful that cinnamon rolls and coffee have the smells they have. I'm grateful for the feeling I get on real cold December mornings when I come in from outside and the room is warm and filled with the smell of coffee and cinnamon rolls. That's how easy it is to find something you like and be grateful for it. That's just one example out of two hundred and thirty eight thousand things you can choose from.

Gratitude is a principle. If we practice intelligent principles our conditions must improve. Like all practices you will develop the skill of being grateful as you make it part of your daily routine. At some point, as I was going along putting these different ideas to the test, it struck me. If I did only those things I'd tested and found beneficial it would pretty much take all day. I would not only have a better life I wouldn't have time left over to cause myself trouble. I was talking with someone the other day and he had pretty much the same observation. I asked him what he'd been thinking about. He said he'd been wondering why he didn't do what he knew was good for him. That's a good question to find an answer to. In fact wouldn't that just about cinch it? This is very important for any one who is getting started on a self determined path. It's similarly important to surround yourself with people who are attempting to practice the same things you are. There's a reason why birds of a feather flock together. It's not just an observation of a behavior but a life lesson. Those birds, who live in flocks, survive and flourish. Flocks and herds were an evolutionary development that helped a species survive and grow. If you are to flourish and survive you will want to understand this. Prior to a deeper understanding of this concept its just good practice to, as they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, stick with the winners.

This is a good opportunity to habituate yourself to another healthy idea which will serve us well. That is the practice of making lists. Or simply writing things down. Writing things down uses a different part of the brain and the brain doesn't perform two conscious acts simultaneously. It moves really fast and can bounce back and forth. It can walk and chew gum but that happens without conscious effort. That's motor cortex memory. Multi-tasking is an idea someone came up with to get more production from you and to produce guilt so you would be more manageable. Whether you agree with the previous observation or not you'll find that there is an instant change in the thought process when you stop thinking and start writing.

The benefit from forming this habit of writing gratitude lists will pay huge dividends in the future. We'll develop a skill that practically all successful people learn. That writing things down leads to smoother navigating of ones day and makes us more productive, no matter what we're trying to accomplish.

So make gratitude lists. Write them on paper and make it a habit. It takes about twenty to thirty days to form a habit. You don't need to consider that you don't really want to write gratitude lists every day for the rest of your life. If you can do it for a month you can analyze the results in the end and decide what to do from there. One reason to do it is because it will make you feel better. I am a big fan of feeling better. I'm a big advocate of enjoying myself and finding out the easiest, fastest, best way to do something. Know that all the suggestions in this little book I have put to the test. I have proven them to myself, by practicing them, they all work.

Life Sucks Gratitude List

This is an example of a gratitude list that could be used by someone who can't think of a single thing to write because they hate everything :

I'm grateful for anyone who makes me laugh
I'm grateful that I'm not being executed in the morning
I'm grateful that I have skin
I'm grateful I can process my food without the use of externally fitted tubes
I'm grateful there is music
I'm grateful that finding a reason to be happy is still a possibility
I'm grateful for the knowledge that all this self pity will leave if I change what's in my brain
I'm grateful I have a brain
I'm grateful I'm not on fire
I'm grateful that no one can't stop me if I choose to change
I'm grateful that I can write this list

"Gratitude vs Being Thankful"

Is there a difference between gratitude and being thankful? Thankfulness always has to have a receiver and a giver. I am thankful for this moment implies I owe this moment to something. Something other than the moment or me made this moment possible. Where does that leave us? What position do we assume? Who or what are we be thankful to? This is where the modern day usage of count your blessings came from isn't it? When people behave in ways that others don't agree with they are told to be thankful, to something, that they have something. That kind of suggests that we live at the whim of something doesn't it. What kind of gratitude can be generated in this instance? I used to just get pissed when people said I should be thankful. It meant I was at the mercy of something I couldn't see, and knew nothing about, other than what people told me. I don't know about you but for me that's kind of creepy. The maneuvering, the shutting down the logic parts of the brain, necessary to accept this, I believe, has made people kind of crazy. It is at the heart of fantasy. The basic difference is that being thankful is always for something given while being grateful only requires developing the talent. It's probably worth thinking about.

"Being Thankful"

At the same time I am thankful to something. I thank that which has been guiding me to what is best. I thank whatever it is that knows. I am thankful to that, which dwells in a more complete awareness, for helping me move in that direction. I converse with this higher power idea all the time. I don't know what it is. I consider it - all that is. I ask, all that is, to direct me to what is best.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
Aesopt

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.


Melody Beattie


When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.
Henry Ward Beecher

Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl Jung

The shortest and surest way of arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons we have been taught, to mount the first principles, and take nobody's word about them.
Henry Bolingbroke