Ugh, gratitude. I was reading a coaching newsletter the other day and the word “gratitude” leapt out at me. Haven’t we heard enough about gratitude? It’s the “Have a nice day” of the new millennium, a cliché that’s lost all meaning. The word’s been so overexposed that it’s become a mindless platitude.
However, when I dig a little deeper I have to acknowledge that the concept of gratitude, overused or not, has become more important than ever. When we consider what it takes to thrive in today’s world, gratitude is one of the powerhouse concepts that provide the foundation for living a rich and rewarding life. It’s the antidote to resentment and entitlement, serving as an “enough” valve in this environment where everyone around us seems to have something we don’t.
No matter how bad off we might think we are, there’s always something to be grateful for. My friend Ginnon has suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) for the last 25 years, she was diagnosed with it when she was 30 years old. In her youth she was an avid athlete and over the years she’s had to give up the sports she loved one by one. But when she talks about her arthritis what I hear about most often is the kids she sees in her doctor’s office who were struck young with Juvenile RA, and how lucky she is to have had 30 good years to enjoy the sports she loved.
Gratitude is a choice – we choose either the pleasure of appreciating what we have or the pain of longing for what we don’t have. And no matter how over-used the word gratitude may be, it’s what enables us to find the value in what’s before us and accept it as enough. Gratitude keeps us connected to the pleasure of our lives and helps us enjoy all that we have right here, right now.
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Grateful for: beloved family members, a partner who is kind and supportive, dear friends, good health, being born in a free society. Just for starters.
I am grateful you and Non and Niki are in my life.
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I have been totally blown away by the power of practising gratitude. Like you, I initially thought it was rather cliche but now have to admit that it’s a powerful technology for altering one’s mood. The other day I found myself feeling extremely angry and powerless about something and forced myself to list the things I felt grateful for out loud. Within about 5 minutes I was calm and positive. Amazing!