Katie Lenhart - Gratitude is the Only Attitude: Being Thankful Will Take You the Distance

By Katie Lenhart

Copyright 2013

Table of Contents

It really isn't that hard to show someone you appreciate them right? Maybe they helped you with your groceries, allowed you to cut in front of them on the freeway, or perhaps they actually stopped to help you when your car broke down in the middle of rush hour.

Is it really so hard to say thank-you? To take a millisecond to acknowledge and show appreciation for others? Well it's not, but showing gratitude is so much more than that.

Let me ask you something? How do you feel when you show gratitude for something? When you volunteer your time to read stories to children that are sick and stuck in bed at the hospital, don't you feel good afterward? When you put a smile on someone's face because you thanked them for something they did for you, doesn't the smile get returned? It makes you feel good from the inside out, doesn't it?

Showing gratitude isn't just a matter of manners, showing that you really weren't raised on a farm, and that you do know "right" from "wrong." It's a matter of respect. By not showing gratitude in everyday life, you are showing the world that you don't respect it or anyone in it. Definitely not a nice feeling or "place to be," for you anyway.

Negativity manifests if gratitude isn't shown. Society looks down on people that are disrespectful of it and don't practice it, and rightly so I would think. Gratitude means a whole lot more than just showing someone you have manners and respect. The meaning goes way deeper, right into your psychological health and well being.

You see, positivity creates productivity, advancement, satiation, fulfillment, determination, and the desire to "do the right thing." It's a positive mindset that sets you up for success. It helps you make it through the tough times and appreciate the great ones that much more.

With positivity comes hope and happiness, a desire to be bigger and better than you ever imagined on all levels; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. One constant and simple method of tapping into this positive optimism is to be gracious, to make a habit of showing gratitude, and believing it does make a difference. Its a gynormous difference for both you and the recipient.

Let's start with the basics, the definition and gratitude.

Gratitude is believed to have derived from European roots, and is simply a state of thankfulness and being grateful. Pretty simple right?

Let's dig a little deeper and uncover more of what this word truly means. Lets open our minds just a little bit more, and better ourselves in the process.

You do understand this is an incredibly subjective question right? Not far from asking me who is God , or what is spirit ? It looks like a straight forward question, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Maybe its better to approach this question from another angle. Perhaps it's best to say what gratitude isn't?

Gratitude isn't, "I am so thankful for my Porsche!"

It's important you understand that gratitude is far too important to be used to for materialistic purposes. This should help yourself feel better or perhaps to give yourself permission to not feel guilty for having a material possession that may be a little extreme, particularly when there are dying children in the world that don't have a clean and safe place to live, fresh drinking water, or enough food for their belly.

Now this isnt trying to make you feel guilty or bad for what you do have in life. Its just pointing out the fact that gratitude is not about material possessions.

And gratitude isn't automatically associated with the big man upstairs.

Gratitude has no boundaries, it doesn't judge people on any level. Gratitude can be practiced regardless of your domination, your beliefs, customs and traditions. Now this doesn't mean you shouldn't show gratitude for your beliefs, religious or not, but these two things are mutually exclusive, not collectively exhaustive.

Gratitude isn't extreme positivity.

This doesn't mean that gratitude isn't positive and can't be used to support positive thought. But is is more about looking at the "big picture." Life is full of positives and negatives and everything in between. By acknowledging your sadness, heartache, worries and fears with gratitude, you can flip on your positive switch and appreciate the good that you have.

Now this may be a little bit backwards to what you might be thinking, but give it a thought for a minute or two and you'll see that it really does make sense.

Gratitude isn't final.

We set our goals in life and work hard to hit them. Then what? Well, we celebrate our victory; the hard work, perseverance and dedication we had paid off and now it's time to give thanks.

Gratitude is so much more than being thankful or giving thanks, it's about stepping outside of this "one-track" thought process and looking at how you reached your goal. Opening your mind to who helped you. Because for certain you couldn't have done it alone right?

Maybe it's best you think of gratitude as simply a state. Something that comes and goes but you know you can always reach it. By taking a minute to look at things from the outside looking in, just how you might look in through a window, you're getting a little bit closer to understanding all that gratitude is.

And on that note, with life experience, love, understanding, appreciation and selflessness, you will continue to understand and embrace all that gratitude is.

My Thoughts...

Gratitude is just one of those words that's only intimidating if you look beneath the surface, digging deeper to find the true or maybe "expanded" meaning. With this basic understanding, let's move on with our exploration.

Now , there are universal routes to expressing gratitude. If you clock someone for helping you carry your groceries to the car, that's just not an acceptable token of gratitude. However, if you gave them a thank-you and a smile, tipped them a few dollars, or perhaps even pushed your luck with a nice big hug, that would be showing gratitude.

That said, here are a few routes in which you can learn to express gratitude.

Basic List

Anything that has to do with change takes time, I think you'll agree here. In fact, if you want to create a new habit, you need to repeat the particular action regularly for at least 3 months in order to have it stick, at least that's what the behavioral experts seem to think.

In other words, if you want to improve your gracious nature, you're going to need to practice.

If you want to kick-start your gratitude attitude, why not start with making a list, a list of gratitude? This is a tool to train your mind to recognize the things in life you are grateful for, things you might not acknowledge so much in your everyday. And your best bet is to dive right in and write down a hundred things you are grateful for. Don't think about what you're writing, just do it. Whatever pops into your head with the thought, focal point "grateful," write it down before it slips away.

The purpose of this is to help you to appreciate and be grateful for the things you do have in life, and not just materialistic items either. This is a whole lot more than that. Things like your sisters caring nature, even though she does drive you bonkers from time to time. Or how about your boss, because if you didn't have him/her, you wouldn't have the job you love right now. The point here, is that with an open mind and appreciation for "everything" you have, by actually writing a list to remind yourself of these things, your world is only going to get richer, and thats not talking lottery-wise!