Hi Anno, Thanks for sharing that. This is what it is all about. The words we use to express our gratitude help to create the feelings of gratitude within ourselves. Feeling grateful is the magic of gratitude. When we feel gratitude we can make a real shift. Like you did. I loved the line by James Ray and Michael Beckwith on the Oprah show; "Thank you for giving me this so I can learn to be grateful for it." It is the part of gratitude that took me the longest to learn and I can't say that it is easy. But it is freeing. Thanks again for sharing. Kathy

Do you think the less we expect, the more grateful we will feel if/when something good happens?

How do you handle being grateful if no gratitude is due? Wouldn't digging to find something to be grateful for be sort of pretentious? I'm not trying to be negative, but I do have a particular situation I'm thinking about and this does apply. I've tried finding something of graditudinal (made up word, again) value in the situation, but can't. Just can't! Need more practice, right?

Gimster, actually I think the more we expect, the more we will have to be grateful for in our lives. The less we want and expect, the less we will get. It only makes sense, the more we want and expect, the more we will get.

The second question is more difficult, but I believe there is always some aspect of any situation that calls for gratitude and celebration. A couple of examples:

My husband has fast progressing parkinsons disease. I am grateful that he was diagnosed and able to receive medication that keeps him moving. I am grateful that he has good insurance that covers much of the costs of his physical and speech therapy. I am grateful that he loves me and I love him and we are able to find many ways together to keep positive and moving forward.

My mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. I am grateful that my father is still with her and loves her and takes care of her the best he can. I am grateful that she has been in my life and is still alive and healthy. I celebrate what she has been, and continues to be, for all of those people that have been lucky enough to be in her presence.

Lastly, I had a near death heart attack. I am grateful (and by the way, even felt this way at the time) that I had great treatment and they saved my life. I am gratful for medication and the ability to make positive changes in my life. Again, I am grateful for health insurance.

Look at the bigger part of the situation and see what you can find to be grateful for somewhere. Once you find one thing, you will see more. I KNOW you can do this gimster; I just know that you can!

Hi Gimster, I'm so glad you are raising questions about gratitude. I had questions too when I first started practicing it. The truth is that gratitude is a choice. It is not a given. Most people don't think a lot about all the good that is in their lives all the time. We live in a negative society and are surrounded by people who complain and find fault and blame others etc. It's easy for us to get caught up in the same and not see the goodness. But then there's people like Anno who look for the good and really see the big picture and how much they have to be grateful for. Wasn't her answer wonderful? Every one of us is dealing with something in our lives that troubles us. At the same time goodness is always around us. We can't always see it when we are focused on the problem. It's like the different screens on a computer. When we are working on one screen we don't see the other, but it is still there and only has to be pulled up. That is what it's like with our minds. We can only think one thought at a time so if we are focusing on what we are grateful for, the other things disappear. What we focus on expands, so think good thoughts as much as you can and watch them expand. Try writing down five things a day for 30 days and see what happens. I hope this helps. Kathy

Hi Anno, Thank you for your wonderful answer to Gimster. You have got it down girl. I want you on my team. And isn't it true that you see more and more good things to be grateful for when you focus on how much you have to be grateful for? I know it is true for me. I have to confess that when I first started to practice gratitude every day it seemed strange. But I wasn't used to it. Now I wouldn't want to go through my day without recognizing what I am grateful for because it makes it so much more meaningful to me. So thanks again, I appreciate you. Kathy

Anno, what a God-incidence that you saw Oprah right when you needed to! Cool, huh?

I can't beleive Kathy is helping promote The Secret. Wierd that I even mentioned it. Kathy, can you tell us what you are doing to promote the movie?

gimster, are the answers helping? I hope so.

Here's an example of gratitude:

My husband is a Type I Diabetic. He does several shots a day. We are grateful he was diagnosed with this in his early 20s. He has taken tremendous care of himself. Alcoholism runs in his family. Who knows, if he wasn't a diabetic, maybe he would be a heavy drinker. Maybe he wouldn't exercise 5 days a week. His diet wouldn't be nearly as healthy.

We are grateful for insulin, blood testers, and the opportunity to balnce the blood sugar by either eating or taking a shot.

When he has low blood sugar reactions, I am grateful I have orange juice in the house and that all it takes is sugar to help him turn around. I am grateful the paramedics are only minutes from our home. The times we've had to use them, we are grateful for their knowledge and that the hospital is only minutes away. We were thankful for the doctors and the nurses who knew exactly what to do to care for him. The list goes on.

Hi Dotsie, I am promoting James Ray who is in the Secret. We just had an event here in Milwaukee with 650 people attending. It was fabulous. He was on Oprah that same day. I thought the show was excellant. Thanks for your input about gratitude because again, that is what it is all about, focusing on the good we have instead of what we lack. Isn't it great that they have the medications to treat diabetes today? Someday they will have a cure. Imagine what it was like years ago when they didn't have any medication for it. It's such a simple thing to look at the good and be grateful yet we often look the other way. I myself did not get it until we did our book. Now I am empowered by gratitude every day and I love it. Kathy

Dotsie, I do understand the answers, mentally, but right now they haven't been processed fully.
Anno's answers were great, too.
Every so often, since this thread was created, I've taken a stab at putting gratitude to work. It feels like (right now) when I know a word, but can't quite get it to come to mind. I feel a touch of it's vibes. Make sense?
My weekend has been full with the g/c, so I've not been able to dedicate that much thought to it, but even when I was cleaning up after supper (dinner, to some), I was taking a stab at it. Will keep trying and hope to be able to report that it is taking root.

I probably come across as such a negative person at BWS. Sometimes, I can't believe how negative my thoughts are. I hope with recognizing and practicing gratitude, creating and honing my gratitude skills, I will be able to get beyond the negativism within me.

Thanks for answering my questions. Others will probably come throughout the month. Hate to hog your time.

Gimster. No, I do not think you come across as negative. Finding gratitude in life is not always easy. Think of it as forming a habit, tough at first and gets easier all the time.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Be grateful, right now, that you are even open to the idea of living life through celebration and gratitude. Many people would not even consider learning a new way to look at life.

I am grateful that you are here in these forums and that you are reaching out to others.