"Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; everything passed on with grace."
-G. K. Chesterton.
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THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT. Gratitude, a thankful heart is the tonic for life and hope, and what I call the “pinnacle of positive emotions”. G.K. Chesterton said, “I hope it is not pompous to call [gratitude] the chief idea of my life; I will not say the doctrine I have always taught, but the doctrine I should always have liked to teach. That is the idea of taking things with gratitude, and not taking things for granted.”
THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT. Gratitude, a thankful heart is the tonic for life and hope, and what I call the “pinnacle of positive emotions”. G.K. Chesterton said, “I hope it is not pompous to call [gratitude] the chief idea of my life; I will not say the doctrine I have always taught, but the doctrine I should always have liked to teach. That is the idea of taking things with gratitude, and not taking things for granted.”
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I remember a particularly depressing time in my life, when I was in tears almost every day for months. It wasn’t as if I was completely without hope, but I just couldn’t see it. During this time I took some time out to ‘count my blessings’ as it’d been suggested to me. I spent some time by an old-fashioned typewriter and began to type out a “gratitude list”. It was an amazing experience. The exercise took about one and a half hours and I had 100 things on my list! None of these things were small things—every single one of them was significant in my normal life. My life is not any more special than the next person’s.
I remember a particularly depressing time in my life, when I was in tears almost every day for months. It wasn’t as if I was completely without hope, but I just couldn’t see it. During this time I took some time out to ‘count my blessings’ as it’d been suggested to me. I spent some time by an old-fashioned typewriter and began to type out a “gratitude list”. It was an amazing experience. The exercise took about one and a half hours and I had 100 things on my list! None of these things were small things—every single one of them was significant in my normal life. My life is not any more special than the next person’s.
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A daily focus on gratitude will assist in preventing depressive feelings and symptoms. This idea is an established fact, yet so few of us engage in it regularly enough to make it habit. It’s taking time out to appreciate other things and other people whilst taking the acute focus off what we want or how we’re feeling. Some people carry a “gratitude rock” in their pocket or handbag which is symbolism tangible enough to remind them, when seeing or touching it, to spare a thought for the things they have, and not to focus on those things they don’t have.
A daily focus on gratitude will assist in preventing depressive feelings and symptoms. This idea is an established fact, yet so few of us engage in it regularly enough to make it habit. It’s taking time out to appreciate other things and other people whilst taking the acute focus off what we want or how we’re feeling. Some people carry a “gratitude rock” in their pocket or handbag which is symbolism tangible enough to remind them, when seeing or touching it, to spare a thought for the things they have, and not to focus on those things they don’t have.
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It’s the antidote to a bunch of depressed feelings. Not that this is the only antidote—clinical intervention and other remedies have their place—but our overall view of the world and our place in it, can be markedly improved to the positive with daily gratitude. It may seem a little tedious, but you could do a lot worse than create a system, like a “gratitude journal” for yourself to focus on, particularly if you are melancholy by nature. Do it daily as you awaken, to create time to maintain your emotional health; we all need it.
It’s the antidote to a bunch of depressed feelings. Not that this is the only antidote—clinical intervention and other remedies have their place—but our overall view of the world and our place in it, can be markedly improved to the positive with daily gratitude. It may seem a little tedious, but you could do a lot worse than create a system, like a “gratitude journal” for yourself to focus on, particularly if you are melancholy by nature. Do it daily as you awaken, to create time to maintain your emotional health; we all need it.
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Here are two areas to start you on your way:
Here are two areas to start you on your way:
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Big blessings: There’s no question about it, most of us have acquired many things in life, gifts of all kinds, talents we’ve been blessed with, the love of family and friends, the physical and mental abilities we’ve been endowed with, and that we’ve developed through hard work and discipline.
Big blessings: There’s no question about it, most of us have acquired many things in life, gifts of all kinds, talents we’ve been blessed with, the love of family and friends, the physical and mental abilities we’ve been endowed with, and that we’ve developed through hard work and discipline.
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What are you doing with these blessings? How are you investing these in a legacy for your future, and the futures of your children and grandchildren? To those who’ve been given much, much is expected. What blessings have you received that you’ve forgotten about, or don’t reflect on enough?
What are you doing with these blessings? How are you investing these in a legacy for your future, and the futures of your children and grandchildren? To those who’ve been given much, much is expected. What blessings have you received that you’ve forgotten about, or don’t reflect on enough?
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Small mercies: We’ve all been dealt blows in life, some not so small. But, in the midst of the blows, many times we’ve been rescued by the small mercies of the One who cares for us and loves us. Whether the mercy has been the strength and fortitude to get through to ‘fight another day’ (and that day has come and gone) or whether you’re right in the midst of it, be thankful for the hope that it wasn’t, or won’t always be, this hard.
Small mercies: We’ve all been dealt blows in life, some not so small. But, in the midst of the blows, many times we’ve been rescued by the small mercies of the One who cares for us and loves us. Whether the mercy has been the strength and fortitude to get through to ‘fight another day’ (and that day has come and gone) or whether you’re right in the midst of it, be thankful for the hope that it wasn’t, or won’t always be, this hard.
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For big blessings and small mercies alike we need gratitude. Gratitude feeds our hope, and hope will tend to feed gratitude.
For big blessings and small mercies alike we need gratitude. Gratitude feeds our hope, and hope will tend to feed gratitude.
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© Steve J. Wickham, 2008. All rights reserved Worldwide.
© Steve J. Wickham, 2008. All rights reserved Worldwide.
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