“An Attitude of Gratitude”…

Attitude?  I often hear people say ~ “she/he has attitude!”  So, what does that really mean?  I feel that often when people say that other folks have “attitude” they mean it in a negative way.  Yet I aspire for folks to say that I have an attitude….Yes, I said I want people to think I have an attitude, because I want to portray an ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE! 

Several years ago when my mom was going through treatment for breast cancer I was very frightened and not very optimistic.  You see just eighteen months before my mom was diagnosed her older sister died from breast cancer, so optimism wasn’t in my frontal lobe!  While sharing my fears with a very wise friend she suggested that I try making a list of three things I was thankful for in my mom.  Her thought with my “assignment” was it would help me change my focus – to the positive – and not see my mom as a “sick person”.  Well, I have to say that she was so right!  It’s amazing how much my attitude improved by redirecting my focus! 

That was thirteen years ago, and while I haven’t done this each day since then, I have done it a lot.  As a matter of fact for the last several years, when I am faced with stressful events – like when my husband had double knee replacements last year and went through several surgical procedures at the same time for melanoma – I kept a gratitude list to help keep me focused on the positive.  

Sarah Breathnach says, “real life isn’t always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only survive, but surmount our difficulties.”   I love that quote and find it to be so true ~ when in the whirlwind of a stressful event its easy to get caught up in the drama, frustration, disappointment, sadness, or whatever feeling the event brings, but when we combat that with a few positive/grateful thoughts it’s like adding a pain reliever to a headache ~ it begins to take it away ~ it lessens the negative feeling. 

Another author, Melody Beattie says, “…gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”   Peace!  That is what I most feel when I choose to have an attitude of gratitude.  So, how about it?  Want to join me in gratitude?  How about commenting with one or two things you are thankful for. 

Have a blessed day friends! 🙂