IEL News… Since we enjoy this time of year so much, this month we’ll be posting a few extra blogs—some new as well as a few of our holiday favorites. Wishing you a happy holiday season!
This holiday, replace your wish-list with a gratitude-list. It’s easy to focus on all the things you would like to have, or think about how you would like to change yourself or your life, but instead consider what you have now and celebrate who you are now. As Dr. Michael Beckwith often says, “cultivate an attitude of gratitude.”
Many of us are blessed with the truly important things in life such as health, family, friends, freedom, relative peace, and a place to call home. It can be easy to take these blessings for granted, but it only takes a moment of realization that any one of these things could be taken away (such as hearing of another’s loss or illness) to feel a flood of gratitude for what really matters in our lives. These are the gifts to cherish.
Also cherish your own unique self. As the New Year approaches, we often make resolutions about what we would like to change. But keep in mind that we are all, and will continue to be, a work in progress. So celebrate all that you are today. We can even strive to be grateful for the challenges or seeming misfortunes in our lives. While we may not be able to recognize it in the moment—often these challenges are filled with opportunities.
If you are in a place where it is difficult to feel grateful, each night before bed find one thing in your day that you can be thankful for, even if it’s as simple as the sun shining or a smile from a stranger. Living from a place of gratitude not only makes us feel better, but ironically the things we wish for, may come to us sooner. By placing attention on the positive things in our lives, we tend to seek and draw in more of the positive, so what we are thankful for, will multiply in our lives.
You can create a gratitude journal or a simple list on a scrap of paper. If you would like, you can place that list somewhere in your home where you can see it everyday. Or if you’d like to keep it private, place it in a box or in a special book and put it near your bed so you can add to it every night and/or morning.
It has been said that the highest form of prayer is giving thanks. Instead of praying “for” things, give thanks for what you already have. And have faith that what you still desire is already within you—that on some level, what you desire is already manifesting in your life, you just may not see it yet. But you can still be grateful that it is all unfolding right here and right now.
Wishing you and yours a joyful holiday!
If you like this blog, you may also like:
Giving Thanks and Giving Back
Doing Good by Decluttering
Let Your Presence Be The Present
