I remember when I first started thinking about gratitude. It was back in the 1990s, and Sarah Ban Breathnach was being interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She and Oprah were talking about gratitude, gratitude journals, and the like.
“Sure,” I thought. “That sounds fine for people who have nothing better to do. It’s probably a wonderful idea, but I seriously don’t have time for it.” I was working on a doctorate at the time, teaching classes at a couple of local universities, and feeling stressed out, overworked, overwhelmed, and generally tired.
Fast forward to 2007. An unhealthy relationship had ended. I’d finished the degree, and I found myself taking a personal development course. One of the assignments given by the facilitator of this course was to create a list of 300 gratitudes.
300!
Of course, because I was investing a lot of money, time, and energy in this workshop, I decided, “Fine. If that’s the assignment, I’m darn well gonna do it.”
And so, as I was sitting in La Guardia in April, 2007, I started compiling my list of 300 things to be grateful for. I numbered several pages in a journal from 1 to 300, and I began listing things. And the longer my list became, the more relaxed I felt.
And then a miracle happened.
I was in the Milwaukee airport, up to “Gratitude 169” I was given free air fare! FREE! Out of nowhere I was suddenly the proud owner of a voucher good for a free round trip ticket to anywhere in the continental United States. “Gratitude 169” convinced me that this gratitude thing really works, and I got totally serious about it.
I began a morning routine of drinking coffee and writing out things I am grateful for.
That routine morphed into an evening ritual of writing out gratitudes before I go to sleep.
Then I decided to incorporate gratitude not just into my mornings and evenings, but into my days as well, and now I carry an “On the Go” gratitude journal in my purse. When I find myself with a few moments, wherever I am, I take out that little journal and write down what I’m grateful for in that moment.
And as I was relishing the idea of gratitude in my life, I started becoming enormously grateful for my body. Even though I was, at the time, heavier than was healthy for my height, I started thinking about being grateful for being able to walk up the stairs to my apartment. I started begin grateful for being able to hear the cry of the peacocks as I walked past the children’s zoo. I began to be grateful that I could see the clear blue summer sky. I began to be grateful that I could touch the soft fur of my black and white cat.
Being grateful for being able to experience these small pleasures through my physical body shifted my thinking and my energy. Because I was so grateful to be blessed with this precious human body, I began to treat it a little better. Because I was grateful for being, overall, pretty healthy, I started to eat a few more fruits and vegetables and drink a little more water. Because I was grateful for being able to move with relative ease, I started moving a little bit more. Because I was grateful for being alive, I started to enjoy my life just a little bit more!
Gratitude has become a key component to my life. Gratitude was a key component in my releasing weight through pleasure. And gratitude is a key component to maintaining a healthful weight.
Are you up for a challenge?
I challenge you to make your own Gratitude List.
Right now.
Take out a pen and a pad or journal.
Number from 1 to 300.
Start listing things you’re grateful for.
And let me know what happens! E-mail me at nannerl123@yahoo.com.
Up Next: The Pollyanna Game
