Live your life in Gratitude
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Simply: Gratitude is or being grateful is
The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
I think, we all at times forget to be grateful for all the things we have in our lives. Growing up I was not allowed to complain at all. It is just something that was not tolerated. I don’t mean in a bad way we were just always reminded that we must be grateful.
Every chore or task can be re-thought in such a way that you can bring a reason to be happy about anything you are doing. for instance my mom when she washes the dishes which for most is an endless chore can be turned to be a wonderful task. My mom will say I love doing dishes I am so grateful to have both my arms and hands to do so.
Wow. My mom truly has a wonderful outlook and I admire her attitude of gratitude that she can and does turn anything into a reason to be grateful. She lives her life in complete gratitude.
Ford Mustang before the paint job
Car getting ready for final coat
Last January my 17 year old son Bryce got his drivers license. Always a liberating time in a young mans life. My husband and I were excited for him. It is a really great story how he got his first car. My husband was given a bike for free that didn’t run. He ended up trading to a motorcycle repair man for another bike that did run. that was traded for a 1985 nissan 4×4 and that truck was then traded for a 1995 ford mustang.
No money traded hands at all. My husband has a great friend who does custom paint on cars and they traded each other for service. Still no money changed hands. So when Bryce got his license he had a pretty hot ride.
Beautiful custum paint job by Mike Nelson
Bryce McLean first day to see his new car
For two months Bryce drove his car. We had new winter tires put on and it was rear wheel drive so he did have to drive with care as rear wheel drive are not so good for winter driving.
Always remember gratitude it will serve you well
My other son’s birthday arrived on March 31 and we had family up visiting. Bryce has a cousing and they are close in age and good friends also. They decided to drive to town that night and on the way home his cousin wanted to try out his new car. Driving a little too fast and failing to yeild on a swerve in the road the car completely flipped over into the ditch.
I remember getting up in the morning and going outside to feed the horses and my son and his cousin and his cousin’s dad were all standing outside. Now it was about 6am so I was just thinking it was weird that they were outside so early in the morning. I was like what are you doing up so early. And the kids had never gone to bed. The care was flipped at around 1 in the morning and I don’t know how they managed to get out of the car with automatic windows because they don’t remember ever opening them up. They had no cell phone and had to walk at least three miles in the cold back to our house.
lucky to be allive after car flips into deep ditch
look at the trees. Hanging there is the spoiler. >Lucky to be allive
I remember hugging them and saying I am glad your okay. And then I drove to where the car lay in the ditch. And that’s where I felt completely overwhelmed with gratitude. I couldn’t believe that there was virtually no scratches on them. How the windows came open I don’t know. I was so grateful that the fence post they landed on didn’t go through the window and kill one of them. There was a telephone post so close. If they had hit that head on it could have been absolutely horrible.
They remember walking home and feeling in complete awe that they walked away from that mess in the ditch. They joked to each other that god was on there side tonight. The Car was a complete right off and although I felt so sad for Bryce that his new car was totalled I can’t tell you how grateful I was to have my son alive. Even thinking about it now I have a swell of emotions and I just am so glad that my son and nephew are well.
I feel such complete gratitude when i relive that story in my mind. I don’t ever want to take any of my children, friends, husband, family for granted. The car is just stuff. It is a shame that it had to happen but what is important in life isn’t the stuff we accumulate. It’s the relationships we have and its how we treat the people we love.
Life is too short not to be grateful for everything. I urge everyone to not look for the bad in others as your sure to find it. Just focus on what is good and what is right.
I am grateful my son is alive. share your stories blogging and earn an imcome. Its fun and rewarding
I am very grateful for the opportunity that the empower network has given me and my family. The ability to be a stay at home mom and to earn and income talking about the things that are important to me. If sharing the things you love is imortant to you then I urge you to join me and make a good income blogging. I will show you how.
― Albert Schweitzer,“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ― Marcel Proust
“True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” ― Oprah Winfrey
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” ― John F. Kennedy
“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” ― Anthony Robbins