The Power of Gratitude

There is extraordinary power in gratitude to help you accomplish your goals and fulfill your dreams. To be grateful and content with what you have while at the same time having a dream is strangely weird, paradoxical, and mystical.

But therein lies wisdom beyond human rationale. It’s in that paradox that infinite wisdom – grace – can flow freely and direct your path.

This message of gratefulness reverberates throughout history among spiritual sages and in ancient texts. For example, Epictetus, the first-century philosopher, wrote: “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Buddha has been ascribed to have told his followers: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Paul in biblical texts encouraged us to give thanks in everything because that is God’s will.

In more recent times, Zig Ziglar, the well-known motivational speaker, and author said: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”

Oprah Winfrey shares: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

Many scientific studies show that grateful people are happier, less stressed, less depressed, and more satisfied with life. A study conducted by UC Davis professor Robert Emmons and University of Miami professor Michael E. McCullough concludes that…

Participants who wrote down a few things at the end of the day that they were grateful for had stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, a better quality of sleep, exercised more, were happier, more alert, and felt less lonely. It further concluded that thankful people were also more generous and more successful at accomplishing their personal goals.

So being content and grateful for what you have maybe more than just good manners. Could a grateful heart be energy that can alter your life in more ways than one? Is it possible that when you are genuinely grateful for the life you have right now, it in some mysterious way opens your heart to become receptive to that which you desire or dream about?

Let’s face it. Being content and grateful for what you have while at the same time dreaming of a new reality seems conflicting. This is because dreams intrinsically are about a life different than the one you are now living. It’s about manifesting a new reality. This is why being thankful and content with what you have initially appears paradoxical. Amazingly what appears as a contradiction may in reality be a reframing of consciousness, or seeing life with different eyes.

Adapted from David Youngren, Beyond Limits (page 117 – 119)