Gratitude

Why does gratitude make such a big difference in our lives. My life has not always been rainbows and butterflies, I have had many times when we went without, many times when I felt like I "deserved" more, times when I cursed my job or situation to hell, times when I wish things were different, one of the greatest resources I ever blessed myself with was gratitude itself.. and lots of it. 

I learned to be thankful every moment of every day, for every possible thing big and little. My days are filled with gratitude all the time, to people, friends, loved ones, I am so so grateful all the time, I find it humbles me and helps me to remember just how lucky I truly am, just how blessed I have it. The last couple of months have been crazy to say the least but amidst my own storms i made conscious effort never forget my blessings and those who have aided on the journey, I don't ever let even the littlest things go by with out me paying homage to them and saying thank you in my thoughts, in my heart and in my prayers. Its so important to me, even during those times when my attention strays into the territory of what I feel is so called "lacking" - I immediately slap myself back into the moment and remind myself there are individuals out there who are dealing with a great deal more of challenging situations and I truly have no right to complain about my little issues no matter how big they seem to my world. 

• Times when we complained about work - Be grateful to even have a job. 

• Times when we have issues with our family - be grateful you have a family to even argue with, think of all the individuals out there who wish they had someone who cared enough about them that they had the privilege to quarrel. 

• Times when we wish our lives were different or we wish we could go on vacation and live in bigger homes - be grateful our days are not spent in a hospital dying or fighting for our lives or watching someone we love dearly fight for theirs. 
  

Anything we are going through can be eased and transformed with a dose of genuine gratitude. Just wanted to share this thought in hopes to motivate anyone out there to get back into the habit (yes its a lifestyle change to practice gratitude daily) of showing gratitude instead of complaining, I promise it will change your life for the more positive, you will feel more peace regardless of what is occurring externally, you will cultivate an inner love and happiness unlike anything you have ever experienced, I cannot promise you receive more due to your change of thought process but I can tell you that no matter how little or a lot you have you will learn to make the most of it in such a way that you will no longer desire change or feel a need to control what's happening. ~Will "Story" Rivera

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