"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Oprah Winfrey
Motivation Monday - Richard's Insight
Gratitude is something that is easy to accept as being a true life principle I am sure. Yet often, we can drift along, simply forgetting or even take for granted how blessed we are at times. It is easy to do; for me too.
I happen to know a couple of people who are going through their very real and personal battles with cancer at the moment. First, the shock of diagnosis and then the trauma of a significant operation (in one case) to remove the cancer cells. Then, there is the long, hard road to recovery through chemotherapy, which I can see is a very, very tough experience.
I do not bring up someone else's' significant health struggle lightly. However, I do not illustrate their situation to garner pity either. Despite their physical health challenges, these two completely separate people are also displaying a mental fortitude and positive attitude that an Olympic athlete would be proud of. They are, after all in their own Olympics now. They are also both very grateful for what they do have...another waking morning, more time with people they love and care about and a very clear purpose that goes beyond basic survival. I admire them both very much.
I have a morning routine that incorporates gratitude in a very simple way. I ask myself to write three reasons why I am grateful at the start of each day. There are lots of those reasons that have accumulated over the past year or so since I have kept this journal. The process helps to keep me grounded and reminds me of all that I have already to be thankful for.
That's it really today, not a stirring rally call to some lofty goal or quest. Just a straightforward message that if we are humble and practice being grateful, we are already a long way down the road to personal happiness and fulfillment. The irony, of course, as Oprah clearly expresses, is that we tend to get even more of the things we are grateful for when we are genuinely thankful for them. I like that idea, I like the thought of getting more of those three things I write each morning. Some are big things, many are apparently small things...all are equally wonderful.
How about you?
#MotivationMonday