GRATITUDE
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
~ Thornton Wilder

The Dream Big Collection An inspirational set of 3 beautiful books by “The Secret” teacher Jack Canfield: a gratitude journal for the good things you have a vision book for the good things you desire a “how to” guide for The Law of Attraction, to custom-design your life Find Out More

iPhone Gratitude Journal Gratitude for the digital age! Your personal daily gratitude journal, accessible on your iPhone or Touch – reminding you throughout your day to keep a joyful manifesting attitude! Find Out More

Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams Blood, sweat, and tears aren't what it takes to see your dreams come true. Imagination, belief, and expectation are needed. We make our own realities, our own fate, and our own luck. This electrifying course was created by Mike Dooley, one of the most dynamic teachers of “The Secret.” If you want to jump-start your life, this is the program that will do it. 12-hour audio set. Find Out More

Our Prize Drawing Winner and Reader Responses on Gratitude Congratulations to the winner of our “gratitude” drawing, Gwendoline from Australia! Gwendoline will receive the Dream Big Collection by Jack Canfield as her gift. Want more inspiration? Read all the wonderful entries by our newsletter readers describing what they are grateful for in their lives. Find Out More

Attitude of Gratitude When Things Go Wrong? How to Be Upbeat, Not Phony

We hear a lot in “The Secret” circles about the importance of a “gratitude attitude,” but how can we feel grateful when bad things happen? Isn’t it phony to pretend you’re grateful when things are actually going wrong? And how exactly does gratitude make things better?

What Gratitude Attitude Isn’t

A gratitude attitude doesn’t mean living in an emotional monotone, where your response to every situation is “I’m so grateful.” Nor does it mean acceptance and submission, telling yourself the situation is just as it should be when in fact you know it’s atrocious. Speaking up or taking action is important when something is wrong. Is it possible then to be realistic and grateful both, when bad things happen?

It is, because the bad stuff isn’t what we’re grateful for. We’re grateful for the good that is somewhere in there with it. By looking for the good parts in any situation, we find the hope and motivation to work through the nasty stuff and make things right again.

Pollyanna Had It Down

A few decades back, the child star Haley Mills made a wonderful movie called “Pollyanna.” She played a charming girl who always saw the cup as half full. No matter how bleak a situation, Pollyanna saw the bright side. This endeared her to everyone, because having her around made their own viewpoints more positive and cheerful.

Pollyanna didn’t pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t. She cared when people were hurt and things weren’t right. But she helped people to a different way of seeing that made lemonade out of lemons.

In one delightful scene, the servants are miserable because it’s Sunday. They’re required to sit around being prim all day and not allowed to have fun. They challenge Pollyanna to find something to be glad for in that. The little girl’s response, after some thinking: “Well, you could be glad because it’s seven whole days before it’s Sunday again!”

Grat-At: Knowing Your Own Power

That’s the gentle focus shift that a gratitude attitude brings (you may like to call it a “gladness attitude”). It means looking for what’s good in something and being glad for that part. It’s knowing that no matter how bad something appears, your possibilities and resources are endless.

Being grateful means knowing that underneath our physical form, we are consciousness, and that consciousness is power. Consciousness (thought) structures the universe. As long as our inner nature is what thoughts are made of, we can touch the world with our thoughts and change it.

Quantum Physics Weighs In

Quantum physics demonstrates this to be fact. It says that at the deepest level of creation, matter responds to thought. Simply by expecting a light particle to go through Slit A in a screen rather than through Slit B, scientists are able to make a photon go through that slit. Holding an intention and expecting it to manifest is how we create or change things through our mind. No matter how bleak a situation, shouldn’t we always be grateful for that?

We can alter anything. That ability of choice, of making things happen according to our desire, is one of the best things about living. Perhaps this capacity of human consciousness deserves our gratitude more than anything else. Once we know how to create reality, we never have to be victims again.

Next Week’s Topic

Next week we’ll talk about slip-ups: forgetting our empowerment and slipping from gladness into complaint mode – how this affects reality, and how to pull ourselves out of a slump.

New Faces

We’re announcing a change of faces with this newsletter. Winsome Coutts, who has authored the newsletter for three years, is retiring. We’re grateful to Winsome for her own wonderful attitude that has brightened our offices ever since she stepped into them. She helped grow our readership to 25,000 and added a smile to everything she touched.

Winsome’s son, Richie Coutts, and his life partner, Anneli Asplund, will continue bringing you this family-run newsletter, with ideas and products for your inspiration and self-development. Featured products are sold through our websites and affiliate websites. Your purchases support our ability to keep the information and knowledge flowing.

May your life be blessed with gladness and all the good things an attitude of self-empowerment brings!