Gratitude

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude. It can be hard to find the joy in life when dealing with "grown-up" things like loans, taxes, insurance, and bills. Sometimes it feels like we were never taught about how to handle these responsibilities and it gets overwhelming. There is no GPS for life, and the instructions we get sometimes don't make sense.

A co-worker told me her commitment for lent this year was to be more positive. Whenever I complained she would put a positive spin on it. It was eye opening to hear myself say so many negative things, and instantly have someone look at the flip-side of the situation. I guess if I was in a bad mood this probably would have annoyed me, but instead I found it very uplifting. I have a tendency to have a doomsday outlook on things- especially when I'm tired or stressed. It was a nice reminder that the words we use directly affect our attitude. There are a lot of things to be grateful for.

"The Five Qualities of Gratitude"
http://realzest.com/2010/11/five-qualities-of-grateful-people/

1. Truly grateful people are humble

2. Truly grateful people are content.

3. Truly grateful people aren’t judgmental.

4. Truly grateful people don’t gossip.

5. On the flip side of that, truly grateful people are encouraging.

The author goes into greater detail for each of the five qualities, you'll have read the whole article, she has some enlightening insights. Sometimes we all need to be more self aware, for our own good and for the good of those around us.