How to Live A Grateful Life

I love anything about sharing, gratitude and happiness.  It just puts you in a better mood and makes the impossible seem so much easier.  It’s why “The Secret” is one of my favorite books and I often write about keeping a gratitude journal. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to Gratitude and Happiness!

Obviously I was excited to read The Grateful Life, the 3rd book in a trilogy by Nina Lesowitz and Mary Beth Sammons. It’s an anthology of stories on gratitude, which encourages you to be thankful for what you have in you life right now. I personally find that when you are grateful for what you have, you get more and more of what you love.  The authors open the book with a very good point: “Whatever your goal may be, nothing happens until you take action.”   So it’s not like you can just ask for whatever you want and wait til it happens — there’s still some work involved.

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Words of Wisdom

There are many other great quotes and words of wisdom that I found in this book:

“When you change your focus from what you think you need in order to be happy, and instead give thanks for what you already have, you will have unlocked the process that brings about an abundant and meaningful life”

“Thinking grateful thoughts rewires your brain and opens up pathways that allow you to take the steps necessary to fulfil your dreams.”

“All things are possible when you develop an attitude of gratitude.”

“Living in gratitude has become like a little game to me.  I ask for things in life and then wait and see how they magically appear.”  –Irina Lazar

“Once you start focusing on what you have and how thankful you are for what you have, you will notice everything that starts showing up in your life.”

Living a Grateful Life

There are many different stories in the book, but there where a few that stood out to me:

• One story tells the tale of Lisa Ryan, a medical sales rep who was inspired to keep a Facebook gratitude journal with friends after a motivational seminar. After noticing the huge changes this made in her life Lisa went on to form her own company that brings this idea of gratitude to the corporate world.
• Each story comes with a ‘life practice,’ which shows you how to implement the lessons of each story into your life. The practice associated with Lisa’s story encourages you to look at who contributes to your day at work and thank them.  This is so important, and there are many people to thank. It could be the custodian, outside accounting firm or even a family who donated money to your business.
• The book also deals with the power of asking for the things that you want in life. For example Irina, in the quote above, explains how she one day asked for a yoga class and a shower caddy.  Just said it out loud. The next day while going on a spur of the moment hike she found the caddy because someone was giving it away.  And she saw a sign for a free yoga class.  She explained – “I notice what is going on around me because I know that, if I stay present , the world gives me presents!”
• Another story explains the journey of a young guy, Jeremy who was on track to become a pro golfer until he discovered he was losing his sight. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that left him legally blind. Jeremy went on to turn his story of adversity into one of triumph by starting a charity to help cure the disorder he was diagnosed with as well as winning the World Blind Golf Championship. I liked this story because it reminds me of how important it is to focus on what you have, rather then what you don’t.

A Joy Jar

The best idea I took from the book was to create a joy jar.  To do this you keep a pen, paper and jar somewhere that is visible in the home.  Whenever you experience something joyful – a moment, conversation, experience , insight, encounter — write it down and stick it in the joy jar.  At the end of the year — go thru all those moments and remember what a great year you had.  I’m planning on starting this in January and you should too!

What are you grateful for?

Listful Thinking is now ready for pre-order. If buying the book is on your to-do list, pre-ordering is a great help to me.  In the publishing world, pre-orders set the tone for a book and really create buzz with booksellers, media, publishers and book lovers everywhere.  Check “buy Listful Thinking” off your list today!