Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
Gautama Buddha
Negative situations happen to us in our lives because of a lack of gratitude over a period of time. That may sound a little unfair, or you may feel like you're a pretty good and positive person, but the thing is that if we are not intentionally practicing gratitude every day, for everything in our lives then we are taking things for granted. Let me ask you this...
Are you grateful for your health when it's good? Or do you only notice your health when you're sick? Are you grateful for your job every day, or are you only thankful for it when the company has layoffs and you weren't affected? Are you grateful for your paycheck every time you receive it? Are you grateful for your family and friends when everything is going great for everyone, or do you only talk about them to others when you have problems with them? Are you grateful for your car when it's running good? Are you grateful just to be alive every day?
This is why all of us need to learn how to practice gratitude every day for the things and people in our lives. When we stop giving gratitude, then we stop the flow of good and positive things coming back to us.
When we are grateful for things in our lives, it is impossible for us to be negative. It's impossible to feel sad or have bad feelings. Life isn't always perfect, but you must learn to think in gratitude and express it for even the littlest things every day in order to rid your mind and life of negativity.
The quote I wrote at the top of this post explains how you need to live and view your life in gratitude every day. If things go wrong during your day, at least you can look for something positive. Even if it's to the point where nothing went right, but at least you're still alive. You're still here.
The good news is that with the practice of gratitude, if there are negative things in your life now, it won't take very long for them to turn back around. It is hard to find positive in a negative situation, but you have to try because the sooner you do and are grateful for it, then the faster your life will change for the better.
Take a minute to think about 1 problem you have in your life today that you want to resolve. When you think of it, you are going to start to make a list of 10 things to be grateful for around that problem.
An example of something you may want to work out is that you're unemployed despite your best efforts to apply and look for a new job. To help turn your situation around you need to do a concentrated practice of gratitude around your situation. Here are some of the things you may write:
1. I am so grateful to have had more time for my family during this period of not working.
2. I'm grateful that I've had a job most of my life, and that I'm experienced.
3. I'm truly grateful that this is the first time I'm unemployed.
4. I'm grateful for all the things I've learned in applying for jobs and going for interviews.
5. I'm grateful for my family and friend's encouragement and support.
6. I'm grateful that through losing my job, I've realized how much having a job means to me. I never realized that until now.
Or, another example, if you're looking to fix a troubled relationship with a parent.
1. I'm grateful that most of the relationships in my life are really good.
2. I'm grateful that my parent showed me how important encouragement is in raising happy and confident children.
3. I'm grateful that my parent supported me as much as they could during my childhood
4. I'm grateful when I get to laugh with my parent.
5. I'm grateful that I still get to see my parent, because some people don't have their parents around anymore.
These are just some examples of problems you may be facing and ways to find the silver lining in it all, in order to be grateful. Once you've finished your list write "Thank you, thank you, thank you for the perfect resolution".
You can tell if your gratitude is working by the way you feel. You should start to feel better about your situation by practicing gratitude and the negativity should be lifted. By practicing gratitude like this you'll start to see that solutions will also start to appear.
Your checklist for today:
1. Count your blessings and make your list of 10 things that you are grateful for today and why. You can use the worksheet here
2. Chose 1 problem in your life and make a list of 10 things you are grateful for about the negative/problem situation.
3. Before you go to be tonight, pick up your gratitude object and think through your day about all the good things that happened. Pick the best thing that happened and say THANK YOU!