Gratitude
Gratitude
Inspirations by Melody Beattie
Author of The Language of Letting Go
Hazelden Publishing
Center City, Minnesota 55012-0176
800-328-9000
hazelden.org/bookstore
©2007 by Hazelden Foundation
Printed in the United States of America
No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beattie, Melody.
Gratitude : inspirations / by Melody Beattie.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59285-408-0 (softcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59285-408-7 (softcover)
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-59285-785-2
1. Gratitude—Religious aspects—Meditations. I. Title.
BL65.G73.B43 2007
158.1'8—dc22 2006049737
Editor's note
The text in this book has been adapted from More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie.
11 10 09 08 07 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover and interior design by David Spohn
Typesetting by Prism Publishing Center
Introduction
In our busy, harried lives, it's tempting to focus on what we haven't accomplished and what we don't yet possess. That trap of more, more, more only alienates us from our loved ones and our connectedness with a Higher Power. The solution to reconnecting to what's important in life can be as simple as getting in touch with the power of gratitude.
With practice, it is possible to redirect our focus from large, daunting problems to life's small, beautiful blessings that are ever present and ever sustaining.
Cultivating a true sense of gratitude is more than counting our blessings and saying thank you for what's good. When we're learning to speak the language of gratitude, we learn to say thank you for everything in our lives, whether we feel grateful or not. That's how we turn around circumstances that frustrate or disappoint us.
The benefits of nurturing an attitude of gratitude are numerous. A sense of gratitude immediately gives us a sense of perspective when facing problems. Gratitude helps us make the most of resources at hand. And above all else, a sense of gratitude helps us truly recognize the presence of a Higher Power in our lives.
When we hoard what we have been given, we block the door to receiving more. If you are feeling stagnant in your life, share some of what has been given to you. Let go of some of the sorrow that you have experienced by sharing your experience—and the compassion that you have learned from it—with another. Share your success by teaching someone else your methods. Share in the abundance given to you; donate to a favorite charity or church. Give of your time, your money, your abilities. When you give, you open the door to receive more.
Someone once asked the artist Georgia O'Keeffe why her paintings magnified the size of small objects—like the petals on a flower—making them appear larger than life, and reduced the size of large objects—like mountains—making them smaller than life.
“Everyone sees the big things,” she said. “But these smaller things are so beautiful and people might not notice them if I didn't emphasize them.” That's the way it is with gratitude and letting go. It's easy to see the problems in our lives. They're like mountains. But sometimes we overlook the smaller things; we don't notice how truly beautiful they are.
God, teach me how to enjoy and
savor the pleasures, gifts, and talents
that are spread out before me.
Be grateful you're where you are at this moment.
Don't worry about trying to hurry the future along.
Look for the joy in life now.
Let yourself have all your emotions and feelings about losing people and moments you loved and cherished. Feel as sad as you need to. Grieve. Then let the feelings and the past go. Don't let your memories stop you from seeing how beautiful and precious each moment in your life is now.
God, thank you
for what I've been given.
God, help me give abundantly of what's been given to me. Teach me how to give, so that both my giving and my receiving are healthy and free from attachments.
God, please help me let go of my expectations and accept the gifts that you give me each day, knowing that there is beauty and wonder in each act of life.
It's so easy to see and notice what we like in other people. Sometimes, it's not as easy to see the attributes and beauty in ourselves. It's good to see the beauty in others. But sometimes, take a moment and get excited when you notice what's beautiful in yourself, too.
Take another look at that moment when one door has closed behind you and you're standing in that dark hallway, but no door opens up. Perhaps you have let go of whatever you've been grasping so tightly and you're left standing with an empty hand. If you're at an in-between place, don't just accept it. Revel in it, embrace it, rejoice at your opportunity to sit in the birthplace of all that will come along your path. Relax into the void and allow creation to flow.
God, help me see the beauty and the
good in life. Help me be aware of what
I like in others, so that I can better
define what I aspire to become.
God, help me welcome all the new
experiences in my life. Give me the courage
to calmly walk my path today, knowing
I'm right where I need to be.
In our everyday lives, there are times when we are frightened, times when we need a friend to give us courage, and times when we can be a friend giving courage to someone else. Be grateful for those who have helped you find strength. Be grateful for the times when you have helped your friends find courage of their own.
Sometimes, we can sit down and anticipate the times to come. We can look at our money, our strength, our abilities, our stamina, and say wearily, “There just won't be enough.” That's because we're looking too far ahead. Look around at what you have available, this moment or this hour. Use the resources and gifts you've been given. Tomorrow's manna will come at its appointed hour.
God, grant me the
serenity that acceptance brings.
God, help me accept all the twists
and turns along my path.
Help me learn to be present to the
good and the unfortunate incidents
that come my way.
When we want something so badly—for instance our spouse to change, or that job, or that woman or that man—we begin to obsess and dwell. We take ourselves out of that place of balance and end up in a no-win tailspin. Don't let your needs and desires run away with you. Yes, passion is great stuff. Identify what you want. Then let it go. And ask God what your lesson is.
We can want things, pray for things, and hope that things will come to pass. But ultimately, we're not in control. Instead of spending our time and energy trying to get someplace else, we can learn the lesson and enjoy the beauty of the life we've been given.
Are you focusing on the circumstances
of your life instead of the lessons?
Instead of asking why, learn to ask
what the lesson is. The moment you
become ready to accept it, the lesson
will become clear.
God, help me be clear with you and myself about
what I really want. Then, help me let go of my
intentions and surrender to your plan.
Today, I will come back to balance with any need or want that seems to be controlling my life. Instead of dwelling on it, I'll give it to God and focus on taking care of myself.
We call it keeping up with the Joneses. They buy a boat and we buy a bigger one. They get a new TV an
d we get a big screen. While it helps to identify with each other, we're not all the same. So why compare ourselves on the basis of material things?
God, help me learn to enjoy the
people and experiences in my life.
God, help me to quiet my noisy,
worrisome mind in my ordinary world.
Help me to relax in the familiar and
to be aware of and appreciate it.
Wanting what we can't have is a universal dilemma. It's so easy to conjure up fantasies about how delicious it would be if we could only have that, even though we know we never could. Then we don't have to deal with what we have. Learn to recognize longing and yearning for what we can't have.
Make a list of everything in your life that you're not grateful for. You may not have to make a list; you probably have the things that bother you memorized. Then deliberately practice gratitude for everything on the list. The power of gratitude won't let you down. Being grateful for whatever we have always turns what we have into more.
God, show me the power of gratitude.
Help me make it a regular, working
tool in my life.
Sometimes in life we can't get what
we want. Other times, we can. And
sometimes the journey to getting there
is full of twists and turns, much more
of an adventure than anything we
could have planned.
It's important to be grateful. But sometimes, repressing our emotions and not saying how we feel about a situation is a form of trying to control the situation, too. We think if we hold our breath, don't complain, and do everything right, the universe will just benevolently give us what we want. Is there a situation in your life that you've been hoping would magically get better if you bit your lip and wished long enough? If you've started playing the waiting game in a particular situation, tell yourself how you really feel.
We can't relax when we're being judgmental. As soon as we decide that a thing or situation is either good or bad, we place ourselves in the situation of having to do something about it. For example, if someone is good, we begin to compare ourselves to that person: Am I better or worse? What can I do to improve? If we decide that a thing is bad, then our conscience tells us that we must try to get rid of it. Either way, we get so busy thinking about our judgments and allowing our minds to create scenarios that we cannot relax and enjoy things the way they are.
Become conscious as you go through
your daily life. Go on a treasure hunt.
Find out what feels good to you.
You just might discover that there are more
treasures and pleasures in this world
than you thought.
God, teach me to use gratitude and
letting go to reduce the size of my problems.
When people suggest being grateful, it's easy to think that means counting our blessings and just saying thank you for what's good. When we're learning to speak the language of letting go, however, we learn to say thanks for everything in our lives, whether we feel grateful or not. That's how we turn things around.
God, help me be
grateful for all the problems and
circumstances in my life.
It's easy to be thankful for answered prayers, easy to be joyfully grateful when the universe gives us exactly what we want. What's not so easy is to remember to be grateful when we don't get what we want.
God, thank you for the resistance in
my life. Help me to stop fighting with
it and to use that energy to truly solve
the problem.
Sometimes when we pray, we get what we want. Sometimes we get what we need. Accept both answers—the yes's and the something else's—with heartfelt gratitude. Then look around and see what your lesson and gift are.
When problems and challenges arise, they force us to examine our ideals, become alert, and often learn something new about others and ourselves. Even our enemies, rivals, and competitors give us something to push against. They help us define who we are and challenge us to become our best. Instead of complaining and grumbling about a problem or circumstance, thank it for being there.
God, thank you for not always giving
me what I think is best.
Remember to be grateful.
God doesn't owe us anything.
All of it is a gift.
Sometimes we get what we pray for. Sometimes we don't. Be grateful—force gratitude; fake it if you must—when God answers your furtive prayers by saying no. Take the rejections with a smile. Let God's “no's” move you happily down the road. Maybe you're not being punished, after all. Maybe God is protecting you from yourself.
Don't get bitter or so involved with feeling blue about not getting what you requested that you miss out on what you did receive. Wants and needs are closely connected. And all our needs, even the ones we're not completely aware of yet, will be met. Be grateful that God knows more about what we need than we do.
God, help me remember to be
thankful even when the gift is
not quite what I expected.
God, help me to laugh, cry, love, be
aware, and be thankful with all my
heart for every moment and each
experience that I've been given. Thank
you for my life.
Practice an act of gratitude. Find one of your guiding lights or guardian angels and tell that person what he or she means to you in your life. Your guides may not even be aware of the impact that they have had on you. And who knows whether your kind words may be just the light that they need today to push them gently down their path with heart.
Then, take it one step further. Take the kind, loving thing they did to or for you and pass it along to someone else.
God, thank you for the people I resent and envy. Bless them richly. Open doors for them, shower them with abundance. Help me know that my success doesn't depend on their failure; it's equivalent to how much I ask you to bless them.
God, thank you for the past.
Help me let go with gratitude,
so that I can live more fully
and joyfully now.
Could it be that you're who you are and where you are now for a reason? Thank God for your life, exactly as it is, right now.
God, thanks for everything,
just as it is.
Are you grateful for each experience you've had? Are you grateful for the story you're living now? The good news is, the story of your life hasn't ended yet. There's still more to come. Touch the experience of being human in all of its sorrow and joy.
Be grateful for the story you're living now.
Remember, there's a difference between
knowing about the power of gratitude and
actually applying gratitude in your life.
God, thank you for the ability
and desire to love. Love is a
cherished gift from you.
We can feel good about the things we've done, the part we've played in taking care of our lives. But remember, healing is a gift. So is love. So is success. Feel good about doing your part in helping yourself. But a gentle thank you to God may be in order, too.
Are you grateful for the people you live with? Or, if you live alone, are you grateful for your friends? The great thing about being independent is that we get to choose our families. Be thankful for your family today, whether it's the one that you were born with or the one that you've chosen. Our families are a gift.
God, thank you for my families.
God, remind me to give
thanks where thanks is due.
Sometimes, the last thin cord binding us to a person, an experience, or a part of our lives that we're trying so valiantly to be free from, can be effectively snipped with the shears of gratitude.
Part of saying thanks is sharing our lives with the world. The other part is learning to enjoy our lives, ourselves. Live and love and learn and see
things; then pass those things on. Don't just say thanks. Demonstrate your gratitude for life by living as fully as you can.
If you've been given much, be thankful.
Use your abundance wisely. Enjoy it.
Share it with others. Be thankful for
the gifts in your life.
Celebrate the abundance that comes
into your life. So often we spend so long
in the “do without” stage that we don't
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