Gratitude a life-changing attitude

 Gratitude a life-changing attitude



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 ~ Oprah Winfrey

As 2021 winds down, there is no shortage of reasons to be despondent .. but it doesn't have to be that way. It all starts will a mindset that looks for the blessings not difficulties in life ... it's an attitude called gratitude! 

Nature walks


Bounties of the garden

Gratitude that we are all together, safe and sound. Enjoying family time like gardening, movie nights, board games and cookouts exploring cuisines from around the world. Plenty to be thankful for ...

Lords of Water Deep, Star Wars Rebellion and Obsession

South Asian laksa, Portuguese bacalao and Japanese ramen

Gratitude is when a memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind. ~ Lionel Hampton

In the words of the wonderfully gifted self-help guru and maven Melody Beattie ...

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. 
It turns what we have into enough, and more. 
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. 
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
And I would add this thought — that without gratitude, you can turn any paradise into hell.
Without gratitude, you will always walk away from the table still starving — no matter what measure of abundance has been laid before you.
Without gratitude, 
every job is the worst job on earth, 
every spouse is deficient, 
every friend lets you down, every home is on the wrong street, 
every gift is the wrong size, every novel is full of typos, every mattress is uncomfortable, 
every cup of coffee is too weak.
Without gratitude, every choice you ever made will always feel like the wrong choice.
Without gratitude, 
summers will always be too hot; 
winters will always be too cold. 
The music will always be too loud, 
the movie will always suck, 
the teenagers will always be too rude.
Without gratitude, people who vote or worship differently from you will always be monsters in your eyes. 
Without gratitude, you will always feel you were born into the wrong family. 
Without gratitude, the waitress will always be too slow, 
and you will always get the worst seat on the bus. 
Without gratitude, every driver on the road except you is an idiot.
Without gratitude, life is A Misery.


I shared this quote with my friend circle on New Year's Eve 2020 and here is what my dear friend and role model the 101-year-old-who-is-young-at-heart had to say ...

I enjoyed your piece on gratitude, and completely agree with it! At 101 years old my heart is filled with gratitude for all the blessings I have received in my life. A wonderful faithful husband, five healthy and now productive children and relative good health until very recently yes my heart is filled with gratitude. When I start feeling sorry for myself, I may return that coin and I am grateful, and I relax and feel close to my Lord. Blessings ~ Madeline O'Neill (Friend from faith sharing group)

Piglet noticed that even though he had a small heart, it could hold a large mount of gratitude ~ A A Milne (Author of Winnie the Pooh)

Reference:

Beattie, Melody. “Melodie Beattie - Gratitude.” Melody Beattie, 25 Aug. 2021, melodybeattie.com/category/gratitude.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. Kindly don’t engage in trolling, flame-baiting, name-calling, insulting, stereotyping or gratuitous attacks. Thank you for being a good citizen.

Popular posts from this blog

Bacher Baba

Image
The enduring legacy of the revolutionary social worker Fr Hermann Bacher sj Fr Hermann Bacher sj , was a Swiss Jesuit who spent more than 60 years of his adult life serving impoverished farmers in the drought-prone areas of Ahmednagar district, and in the process earning the trust and respect of 4.3 million people to the point where they called him " Bacher Baba ”. One eyewitness said he was a workaholic who never stopped for lunch, preferring to nibble on a piece of Bhakri (बाजरीची भाकरी aka Millet Roti) that he carried in his pocket - giving him the serendipitous nickname, " Bhakr Baba ". 2nd Death Anniversary Memorial service for Fr Bacher on 14 Sep 2023 I was privileged to witness first-hand the testimony of over 300 farmers from near and far who came to pay homage to this revolutionary social worker on his second death anniversary at the Social Centre in Howare Korda in Parner Taluka of Ahmednagar district on the 14th of September 2023. One witness said that whe
Read more

The unstoppable Rev. Fr. Romuald D'Souza SJ

Image
   The unstoppable Rev. Fr. Romuald D'Souza SJ Fr. Romuald D'Souza SJ.  Photo credit: Historia Domus      Romuald was born in Aldona, Goa on on 20 December 1925 to Dr. Tito Fermino de Souza and Alina Ana Maria de Souza. He was the eldest of six children. After him was born Wilfred de Souza (1927), surgeon, long-time MLA and former chief minister of Goa. The third child, Orlando (1928) became an aviation engineer with Caltex in the USA. The fourth is Michael (1933), a former principal of St Michael's High School in Anjuna. The fifth,  Sr. Noemia (1935), was the Principal at Nirmala Institute, Bombay and Director of the College of Home Science and Polytechnic, Bombay.
 The youngest Arnaldo died tragically at the tender age of twelve years.       After the birth of the first three boys, the patriarch Dr Tito sailed to Kampala, Uganda to set up his medical practice. After a short while, he was joined by his wife and the two younger boys while Romauld stayed behind with his gran
Read more

Fr H O Mascarenhas

Image
Rev. Fr H O Mascarenhas, the trailblazing firebrand who lit up the liturgical firmament Mascarenhas family, Poona 1928. Standing L>R: W.X., Fr Olymph. Sitting L>R: Adelaide, Matriach Raquelina and Gladys. The boys are Ivan and Ossie Gonsalves Introduction : This is a homage to my father’s uncle, the Rev Fr Hubert Olympius Mascarenhas , known to the family simply as Fr Olymph, a generational talent of rare intellect and spirituality who like Halley’s Comet blazed a trail, leaving a powerful albeit oft misunderstood legacy. Shout out to Dr Joan Dias, Director of the Heras Institute of Indian History & Culture at St Xavier's College, Mumbai, who furnished valuable historical documentation. I updated this blog after receiving valuable inputs from  Fr Mousinho De Ataide and Brigadier Kevin Mendosa.  My sincere thanks to Andrew Mascarenhas, my editor-at-large - Kieran Gonsalves We know that Fr Hubert Olympius Mascarenhas was born in 1905 in Porvorim, Goa, the third child of An
Read more