My nephew Jeffrey is on a mission currently in Acapulco. Not in the prettiest parts of it either it sounds like. He writes home to his parents every week and my sister is kind enough to send the letters on for the family to read.
The other week he said something interesting. He says that they have a 'gratitude rock'. Every time they feel unhappy, they are supposed to take it out and think of 10 things they are grateful for. The thing is ... they cannot use the same thing twice - for the day. He says that they are finding they are grateful for many random things.
I thought this would be a good exercise for me since I seem to wander around all the time with the 'poor me, it's so quiet', 'poor me, I have to clean up for the cleaning lady', 'poor me, my closet is messy because I have to pack for Hawaii'. Yeah, I know I am spoiled. I do know that Gary and I have made wise choices in life and worked very hard for where we are ... but, yeah - spoiled.
So I decided that I would have to come up with 5 things (OK, I am lazy, and old - I might forget where I started) every time I was feeling down, was wallowing in self pity, etc. Also - I can't start over - EVER. So the regulars family, roof over my head, etc are long gone! It is amazing what you can come up with ... and truly be grateful for. There are things I come up with that I would have never even thought about had it not been for this little exercise.
The weirdest one so far? I am grateful for the severe pain I am in constantly - the joints, the muscles the constant headache - why? Because I would have never known the power of my brain to be able to block it out. And I am proud of the success after years of working on it to be able to do it. Not all the time, but when I am not stressed, not depressed - it does a fine job and I amazed at my ability to block out the pain and just ignore it and move on.
Try it - you will never know what you are truly grateful for until you do!
The other week he said something interesting. He says that they have a 'gratitude rock'. Every time they feel unhappy, they are supposed to take it out and think of 10 things they are grateful for. The thing is ... they cannot use the same thing twice - for the day. He says that they are finding they are grateful for many random things.
I thought this would be a good exercise for me since I seem to wander around all the time with the 'poor me, it's so quiet', 'poor me, I have to clean up for the cleaning lady', 'poor me, my closet is messy because I have to pack for Hawaii'. Yeah, I know I am spoiled. I do know that Gary and I have made wise choices in life and worked very hard for where we are ... but, yeah - spoiled.
So I decided that I would have to come up with 5 things (OK, I am lazy, and old - I might forget where I started) every time I was feeling down, was wallowing in self pity, etc. Also - I can't start over - EVER. So the regulars family, roof over my head, etc are long gone! It is amazing what you can come up with ... and truly be grateful for. There are things I come up with that I would have never even thought about had it not been for this little exercise.
The weirdest one so far? I am grateful for the severe pain I am in constantly - the joints, the muscles the constant headache - why? Because I would have never known the power of my brain to be able to block it out. And I am proud of the success after years of working on it to be able to do it. Not all the time, but when I am not stressed, not depressed - it does a fine job and I amazed at my ability to block out the pain and just ignore it and move on.
Try it - you will never know what you are truly grateful for until you do!
1 comment:
Every morning as I sink into my hot bathtub of water I am thankful. How did those pioneer ladies face each day? That is one of the only things that gets me going in the morning!
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