Gratitude

Last weekend my wife and I went to Jack Canfield’s workshop, The Success Principles.  It was an incredible event and I would recommend you going to one if you have the opportunity.  I felt the workshop was reaffirming to me.  It taught me that I am on the right track and it gave me a number of things to work on.

One thing in particular that really hit home with me was around gratitude.  He talked about having a gratitude journal and updating it nightly.  I have been journaling daily since the start of 2008 so that was nothing new to me.  I also evolved my journaling into a section on gratitude.  Every night I give gratitude to whatever comes to mind.  I write at least 10 things I am grateful for.

What made Jack’s talk about gratitude so special was the following.  He said something to the effect, “Just writing that you are grateful for something doesn’t mean a whole lot.  You have to attach the feeling of gratitude as you write it.”  He went on to say that one author he knows doesn’t get out of bed in the morning until he has a tear of gratitude.  Wow!  That hit me like a light bulb going off.

So what am I doing different now?  Thank you for asking!  Every night when I get to my gratitude section, I write the name, place, event, etc. and then pause for a moment and reflect on a very positive memory.  Then I go to the next and repeat.  It adds maybe 2 minutes but man, I definitely feel the difference.  I am in a completely different state each night than I was prior to doing this.

Happy gratitude journaling.

Peace, love, and gratitude,

Bill