im constantly looking for things to be greatful for. another day clean is a great one. A wife and family thats loves me ( still ) is another. My cup truely runneth over. And yet i fall victim seemingly daily to my pity pot woe is me attitude. heres how im trying to deal with it.
Exercise: Increasing Gratitude
You can train yourself to be more aware and expressive of gratitude in any number of ways:
Write down all the things you are grateful for and recite them to yourself every morning and night.
Make a collage or picture of everything you are grateful for. This is a very powerful way of expressing and reinforcing your gratitude because it takes time, energy, and focus.
Bring gratitude to as many moments as possible during your day.
Doing these things to align yourself with gratitude rather than lack is a very powerful spiritual practice, which can change your life when done consistently. The reason gratitude can change your life is that it is a simple way to move from the ego to essence. All it requires is remembering to be grateful. You can reprogram your mind by using gratitude to replace any thought of lack, resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger. Whenever a negative thought arises, replace it with gratitude. For example: If the thought arises He shouldnt have done that to me, it can be replaced with Im grateful I have the strength and understanding to deal with this. In doing this, you move from victimization to peace, personal power, and acceptance.
more will be revealed.
anthony
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The fundamental delusion of humanity , is to suppose that I am here and you are out there .
I find gratitude is a wonderful healer. When I first started, I made a point to be thankful for everything. I am constantly looking at the things I can be thankful for. My mantra when I wake up is just Thank YOu, Thank you, Thank You..... I use it to clear my mind, and it is like a beat when I am walking. I always make sure to thank people for the little things, like the bus driver stopping at my stop, the elevator man stopping at my floor, someone sharing a few moments with me. With this attitude, it does not give my mind a chance to create wrongs for the pity. This was one thing that I was very good at.
It seems that the more that I become thankful, the more that I HAVE to be thankful for. Gratitude is progressive, we just have to allow it to grow within us.
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Yes, I bought a ticket on the crazy train.....Good thing it was a return ticket.
Thanks for posting Anthony. That is a great way to maintain an attitude of gratitude. Something that was suggested to me when I had about 60 days was to make a list of all the things I would lose if I used. My list included: bathing, going to the movies, prime rib, my family's budding respect, clean sheets, clean underwear, my growing sense of belonging in NA, the example of others traveling this path before me, self-respect, my sense of purpose/direction, enjoying an nfl game with my friends, my ability to commit, and much more. I still carry this list around in my wallet and pull it out occaisionally just to reflect on.
I was told that gratitude is one of the two most important spiritual practices we participate in in recovery because it acknowledges the existence of a Higher Power. If I am grateful FOR something, that implies that I'm geateful TO someone or something. The second most important spiritual practice is forgiveness. My gratitude acknowledges the existence of God, my forgiveness emulates God.
Thanks, Anthony, for reminding me of these most important lessons of recovery.
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"With a sweet tongue of kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair." ~Persian Proverb
