“I’ve got an attitude. I’ve got an attitude. I’ve got an attitude of gratitude.”
That’s the chorus of a song by Richard Mekdeci. In it are contained two key components for living an abundant life. We need to have the attitude to see the good in our life experiences and we need to be grateful.
Admittedly, the concept of gratitude is nothing new.
An Internet search brings a myriad of gratitude quotations, gratitude journals, and articles and books on the benefits of gratitude. Each invites you to become aware of where you put your focus and how you interpret every life experience.
Is the glass half empty or half full?
Or should you simply be grateful you have a glass with any amount of liquid in it? And is being grateful and focusing on the “good” attracting to us more of the same, and even something better?
Ahh, the attraction factor, which purports that how and where you focus your attention draws more experiences and resources similar in vibration. It’s important to be aware of where you focus and at what vibration you resonate.
Which do you think will serve you better?
An “attitude of gratitude” (which raises your vibration) or one of disappointment, lack, or fear? I vote for “attitude of gratitude” because I really, really like it better when life feels good.
The documented power of gratitude
Psychologists, Michael McCollough of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis, found that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, and energy.
Participants that practiced gratitude…
- felt less depression and stress
- were more likely to help others
- exercised more regularly
- and made greater progress toward achieving personal goals
In another study, Emmons discovered that people who practiced gratitude were 25 percent happier than those who didn’t and that their natural state of happiness, or “set point” to which they returned after stressful experiences, grew.
People with a consistent attitude of gratitude will generally experience better health, stronger, more loving relationships, and greater prosperity.
Gratitude is a key that unlocks the fullness of life in mind, body, and spirit. It helps you see the gifts in what seem to be problems and the order in chaos. It turns “not enough” into enough and more. That means gratitude turns your lives into ones of abundance — abundance in love, peace, joy, harmony, physical well-being, finances, and spiritual growth.
With all these benefits, gratitude would also save you a lot of money in doctor visits, medicines, lost wages, lost opportunities, and more.
Making the mental shift
Yet with all these benefits, I still find people who cannot make the mental shift to try gratitude: “You just don’t understand, Sophia. My life has nothing good in it.”
My answer: “Yes it does. You just have to look for it and focus on it.”
Or they say, “I’ve tried it before, and it just doesn’t work.”
My answer: “It does work. Just take baby steps. You can do it!” Admittedly there are some people who so enjoy complaining and receiving sympathetic “poor baby” responses that they have no intention (yet) of changing. If you are one of them, just know that when you’re ready, there will be someone to support you in your shift to “an attitude of gratitude.”
For those of you who want to raise your vibration, make yourself an abundance magnet, improve your health, and otherwise live a more fulfilling, joyful, loving life — now is the time!
If you are starting out, begin with writing down each evening five things for which you are grateful.
Remember to be grateful that you love yourself enough to take the time to focus on your good. Then, be on the lookout for more of what you put on your gratitude list to show up in your life, and write those down. If daily is too much in the beginning, start with once a week.
When this exercise becomes a normal activity for you, look for things to be grateful for in what otherwise appear to be negative experiences. Write them down. Notice that as you find something to be grateful for, you begin to see good in more and more areas of your life.
Another thing to be grateful for.
For extra credit, begin writing a narrative about all that you can be grateful for.
Include descriptions of how your emotions became lighter as a result of your gratitude practice. Become aware of how your vibration is rising and how you are attracting more of the same into your life. If you stumble once in a while, remember you are not alone. Reach out to a trusted friend for support as you get back on the path.
And affirm to yourself, “I’ve got an attitude of gratitude!”
