Gratitude

At first I thought it would be difficult to compose my very first blog entry. After all, a blog entitled "Purposeful Living" sort of sets the bar high! I really wanted to set the right tone for what this blog would be about. I wanted to convey the things I'm most passionate about so that readers could decide if my passions resonate with them, inspire them, intrigue them. I wanted my first blog entry to be just the right balance between explaining/delving into my beliefs, and leaving plenty of mystery/ground-to-cover for future blog entries. I wanted to explain how this blog got it's title and what it means, to me, to be living a purposeful life.

Well this blog entry is going to be nothing like that.


The past 24 hours of my life have inspired me to focus on one thing and one thing alone in this blog entry. Gratitude.

I am a huge believer in the power gratitude.

I recently read Rhonda Byrne's latest book, The Magic and it was, sorry for the cliche, life changing. Years ago I enjoyed her book, The Secret, was just as fond of her second book, The Power, but I absolutely loved The Magic.

The basic premise of the book is about giving thanks. We are not talking about grace before meals and the polite "Thank You" that gets tossed around in our day to day routine. We are talking about a gratitude that will live in us in everything we do and in everywhere we go. We are talking about a gratitude that is present even in difficulties, a gratitude that will change your mindset from negative to positive- simply by giving thanks for what is good in every situation.

What a wonderful routine to get into- to give thanks for your life when you wake up every morning, to give thanks for your car when you drive it everyday, to give thanks for whoever calls/texts you (even if at the time it's an annoyance to you). I can't even begin to list all the various ways that we can show gratitude in our daily routine.

Which brings me back to the past 24 hours of my own life....

I contracted a horrible bout of food poisoning last night. I can't even remember the last time I was so violently ill like that. But amidst the worst of it- I started giving thanks. I was thankful for my perfectly working body- a body that was trying very hard to purge something terrible from it's system. A body that was trying to keep me safe, trying to make me better.

I was so so grateful.

Hours later I was finally in bed attempting to get rest and I fell asleep giving thanks to my body for doing what it needed to do in order to keep me healthy. I gave thanks for my strong immune system, I gave thanks for my stamina that I was able to endure such a purging, I was thankful for this not-so-gentle-reminder that I need to be more thankful in my day to day life for my health. Boy when you are ill, all you want is to be healthy again! Well, I need to be more thankful for all the days that I spend being healthy (and being sick yesterday was a great reminder of that!). You can't even imagine how many times today I gave thanks for all my perfectly operating blood cells, nerve endings, my complex wonderful brain, my appendages, my strong beating heart....

There is always, no matter what your current circumstance, ALWAYS something to be thankful for.


If you have two eyes to read this, and a brain to process the information, then stop now and give thanks for your healthy physical body. What a blessing it is to have. Be thankful for it each and everyday and even in times of sickness, be thankful that your body is doing it's very best to bring you back to health.


So maybe I did set the precedent in this first blog entry about what I believe in and what this blog will be about. I believe in being positive. Not just being positive but choosing positive [over negative]. Choosing optimism over pessimism. Choosing love over hate. Everyday I make a choice to be happy. Happiness is not something you find, not something a person/place/thing can bring to you. You bring it to yourself. It's a choice you make [to be happy]. And the best way to be happy, I've found, is in counting your blessings and being thankful for each and every one of them.

So if you are unhappy, this is a great place to start.