HOW TO CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
About ten or more years ago I learned a wonderful practice while unwinding one afternoon in front of the television, listening to the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah was speaking about the power of keeping a gratitude journal. Shortly thereafter I started spending the last ten minutes before I went to bed, writing down at least ten things that I was grateful for. I did this every night. It was a very powerful practice and had a tremendous impact on my ability to refocus my attention from what was missing for me in my life, to all that was available for me to be grateful for. Over the next several weeks I found myself feeling lighter, happier, and better able to manage the sadness that was also so real for me back then.
Despite the inevitable struggles and curve balls that life presents us with, if we take the time to tune in, we will find there are so many uplifting things around us, that we can take into our hearts with an attitude of gratitude.
With the change of the clocks back in October, I have been blessed with the opportunity of bearing witness to some of the most spectacular skies on my drive home from work. Although I only have a short 12 minute drive home from my office in Hawthorne, to my home in Ossining, the drive West on 117 gives me an expansive view of the majestic sky... vast above the Hudson River, filled with deep color contrasts between sky and clouds, imbued with varying color combinations. I frequently find myself dialing my life partner Michael, and sharing it all with him, as he so often does with me, when he is enraptured by the sight of the evening moon reflecting its light off the Long Island Sound and right into his bedroom window in New Rochelle. Nature is such a wonderful gift and is available to us everyday.
I invite each of you to give yourselves the gift this holiday season of tuning into the things in your life that can fill your heart with an attitude of gratitude. I promise it will be time well spent. Do that everyday as a practice and notice the changes within you. I'd love to hear back from you with what you discover.
