After my first husband Ken died, I felt alone, bereft, and hopeless. I went on with my life as if in a fog. I couldn’t understand how I was expected to function, pay bills - in short, go on as if nothing had changed. My whole world had changed. Life felt surreal and nothing made sense to me. I wasn’t happy about anything. If anyone brought up the word gratitude to me I would wonder what was there for me to be grateful about?
Unfortunately, I went along with this attitude for a few years. Most likely I seemed fine on the outside because I functioned normally. On the inside I was a mess. I thought I was on the right track. The first book I read after Ken died was the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’, followed by Brian Weiss’ ‘Many Lives, Many Lives’, Moody’s ‘Life after Life”, Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukov, Tuesday Lopsong Rhamsa’s books, Paramahansa Yogananda, Larry Dossey, Ken Wilbur, Alan Watts and many, many more. I had a thirst to know what happens when one dies.
I wasn’t happy. I started noticing that things were not going well in my life. I had a thyroidectomy and a complicated hysterectomy in one year along with a nasty car accident. While relating a few incidents to a friend, he looked up at the sky. I asked what he was doing and he said he was looking for the black cloud that was following me around. That really got my attention! Was I really attracting all these negative situations in my life? Here I was studying the physics of consciousness - I thought I had been moving along pretty well.
This is before the Secret came out but I had done enough reading to know about the law of attraction. I had a hard time believing that I was attracting all this negative energy. What was I to do about it?
Enter gratitude. I realized how I had been pushing the idea away. Maybe part of me wanted to wallow in my sorrow. Slowly, I began cultivating little pieces of appreciation in my daily life. I started to notice how beautiful the clouds were in the sky, the gentle breeze, the birds singing. I revisited prayers from my childhood and affirmations that resonated with me.
It's amazing how my life changed! Starting with little things that anyone can appreciate was the first step. In the morning before getting out of bed I would look around me and appreciate all the good surrounds me and what the day would bring. Each night before I went to sleep, I recounted my day and noted all the good things that had happened. I began to notice that I was happier. Happiness doesn't come to us; we cultivate happiness by seeing good things around us in our daily life. Good things start to happen to us. I saw real demonstrations of good in my life where before I saw none. There is no doubt in my mind that gratitude is the key to happiness and attracting good things in life. What you focus on, you get more of in your life. I want to be happy, so I cultivate gratitude and it works!
Try this simple exercise:
Next time to go to the store to purchase an item, look the clerk in the eye and smile. Ask how her day is going- engage in a conversation and really be interested and focused on the person right in front of you. It's amazing what you get back! When you approach someone with kindness and a smile, they can't help but respond in kind. It also makes interactions a lot more fun and interesting.
Unfortunately, I went along with this attitude for a few years. Most likely I seemed fine on the outside because I functioned normally. On the inside I was a mess. I thought I was on the right track. The first book I read after Ken died was the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’, followed by Brian Weiss’ ‘Many Lives, Many Lives’, Moody’s ‘Life after Life”, Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukov, Tuesday Lopsong Rhamsa’s books, Paramahansa Yogananda, Larry Dossey, Ken Wilbur, Alan Watts and many, many more. I had a thirst to know what happens when one dies.
I wasn’t happy. I started noticing that things were not going well in my life. I had a thyroidectomy and a complicated hysterectomy in one year along with a nasty car accident. While relating a few incidents to a friend, he looked up at the sky. I asked what he was doing and he said he was looking for the black cloud that was following me around. That really got my attention! Was I really attracting all these negative situations in my life? Here I was studying the physics of consciousness - I thought I had been moving along pretty well.
This is before the Secret came out but I had done enough reading to know about the law of attraction. I had a hard time believing that I was attracting all this negative energy. What was I to do about it?
Enter gratitude. I realized how I had been pushing the idea away. Maybe part of me wanted to wallow in my sorrow. Slowly, I began cultivating little pieces of appreciation in my daily life. I started to notice how beautiful the clouds were in the sky, the gentle breeze, the birds singing. I revisited prayers from my childhood and affirmations that resonated with me.
It's amazing how my life changed! Starting with little things that anyone can appreciate was the first step. In the morning before getting out of bed I would look around me and appreciate all the good surrounds me and what the day would bring. Each night before I went to sleep, I recounted my day and noted all the good things that had happened. I began to notice that I was happier. Happiness doesn't come to us; we cultivate happiness by seeing good things around us in our daily life. Good things start to happen to us. I saw real demonstrations of good in my life where before I saw none. There is no doubt in my mind that gratitude is the key to happiness and attracting good things in life. What you focus on, you get more of in your life. I want to be happy, so I cultivate gratitude and it works!
Try this simple exercise:
Next time to go to the store to purchase an item, look the clerk in the eye and smile. Ask how her day is going- engage in a conversation and really be interested and focused on the person right in front of you. It's amazing what you get back! When you approach someone with kindness and a smile, they can't help but respond in kind. It also makes interactions a lot more fun and interesting.
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