Attitude of Gratitude

Today is the 21^st day of 2013.  I want to congratulate those of us who started a New Year’s resolution and have stuck to it.  We have now officially made that resolution a habit, YAY!  For those of us who started late or who have yet to start, let’s keep at it, quitting is not an option!

I want to focus this week on an attitude of gratitude.  My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  I love it because it’s the only major holiday that is focused on being grateful for what we have instead of getting something or exchanging something.  Although recently, it has become the day before we start the commercial madness of “gift giving”, I have made the decision to start declaring out loud the things for which I’m thankful starting on November 1^st each year in preparation for Thanksgiving day, the day I get to do one of the things I’m most passionate about:  being with my awesome family and friends.  To encourage others to think not about what they don’t have and to be grateful for what they do have, I ask at least one person a day in November what they’re thankful for. 

I know that in my own day to day, when I’m feeling down, discouraged, “complainy” (you know the word I wanna use), oppressed, stifled, all those negative feelings,  the one thing that can turn my attitude around is to start listing the things for which I’m thankful.  It’s an exercise that, admittedly, I’m reluctant to start when I’m in the moment of complaint, and at first I can only think of one or two things, but when I persist, my list of gratitude becomes longer.  That’s because negativity doesn’t stand a CHANCE in the presence of gratitude!

Let’s try something today.  When we have a quick moment today, sit down and make a list of at least 3 things for which we are most thankful.  Let’s put the list in our phone or wallet so that we have a “go to” list to start an attitude of gratitude when those negative feelings dare to come up against us.  This is our opportunity to put on our “gratitude armor” and to kill those feelings not just for us but for those around us.  What do you say?  Let’s stand up and stand together so that we can become a new generation where negativity doesn’t stand a chance in our presence!  We can do this! 

-Tessa L. Charles