In the fall of 2014, I went to my Doctor's office, stressed by my responsibilities and the general pace of life in our American society. I knew that my stress was affecting my health and the quality of my life. My doctor asked me a strange question in the middle of our conversation: "Are you grateful?"
I had to admit when I thought about my life, I was grateful but I wasn't grateful routinely. I looked at what was wrong more than what is right and good in my life, and this habit caused me to be stressed! I think many people live life in that mode. My doctor said that I should focus on being grateful for a few weeks and see how my stress level was at the end of that time period. I chose to write a daily post on Facebook about gratitude as my way of trying to alter my negative thought processes. Day 1 was just a chore, a commitment to my doctor. Day 2 was a little easier. I could think of a few more things for which to be thankful. And as I wrote each day, I realized that I was becoming less stressed and happier in general. I was changing...and as I changed, I could see others appreciating what I wrote and also who I was becoming in my life. I realized that gratitude is like a small wave in a pond. We don't always see where the ripples flow, but they continue onward without our awareness, just like thankfulness and gratitude. I continued to post my gratitude posts for some time, feeling better as I did, sometimes receiving few "likes". I decided gratitude doesn't always have an immediate repayment as in a "like" on Facebook but just the act of being grateful was changing the universe in some small way. With that thought comes this journal on gratitude. It is something that I hope to share with others such that we build a life of gratitude together one posting at a time. I hope what you read here blesses you.
