From
the Bottom of the Bucket
An Attitude of
Gratitude
“The years keep coming
and they don’t stop coming…. ” – Smash Mouth
Have you ever
noticed that we spend too much time and energy on what we want that we
sometimes forget to be appreciative for what we do have? Janice Kaplan in her book The Gratitude Diaries, says “we tend
to pay too much attention to what’s wrong than what’s right.”
Guilty as charged.
You too (if your honest)!
An accomplished
journalist, with a successful writing and broadcasting career, Ms. Kaplan set
out on a project to daily (she later changed it to weekly) keep a journal for
one year. In this journal, at the start
of each day, she would write down
three things that she was grateful for.
According to her, the endeavor proved surprisingly life changing.
One of her
findings was that you don’t need good events in your life in order to feel gratitude,
but instead must learn the habit of reframing whatever happens to make sure “that
they see the good in what they have” Could it be possible that we could find happiness
(which is a door opener for gratitude) by completing a structured, clearly defined
program? If so, then why not add it to
the “Fulfillment” support exercises (like an exercise program) I advocate in
this column?
Over the past
year and a half, I have struggled with health issues. I have actually coped with them rather
well. I am now cancer free for almost a
year and my Parkinson’s continues to remain stable. Part luck (with a great team
of healthcare practioners), part attitude, it has always struck me on how much
those medical professionals stressed the importance of the attitude portion. I credit maintaining that attitude to the
learned habit of reframing.
In my
employment years, I was a financial/life planner. To me, if you can break something down to a
system, then it is up to the person to execute the parts, thus assuring the
outcome. Could abstracts like gratitude
be treated the same way? Kaplan says “the
central theme was recognizing what is in your control and what isn’t-and acting
on the one and ignoring the other.
Anxiety comes from wanting what we can’t control and happiness comes
from being positive and looking for the good”.
Try it for a
week….take fifteen minutes to WRITE down three items you are thankful for at
that moment (could be that hot cup of coffee at your side). Then when the negative energy visits, use
the journal as a reminder how lucky you really are.
Until next month, I wish you fulfillment.
Bob
