Loving Gratitude

“Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for living” - James MacDonald

Building off of the positive affirmations from yesterdays post I want to bring to light something we all should do but often take for granted. Giving and showing gratitude.

I know what you're thinking, “What, am I back in kindergarten again?!” Just as in yesterdays post, the way you respond to the happy people is different than the way you respond to grouchy people. The same goes with people who really appreciate you. People want to feel appreciated, and will do almost anything to get that feeling of “worth”.

Let's say that you are looking to buy a car. There are 3 people who have the exact same car for the same price. You can go to Mr. Crabby, Ms. Nicelady, or Mrs. ThanksIappreciateit (Sorry, I am not that creative!). Would you turn down the other two to see Mr. Crabby and most likely leave feeling awful? How about stopping in to buy from Ms. Nicelady? I am sure that she would be very pleasant. I would put money down that you would most likely buy from Mrs. ThanksIappreciateit. Why? Because in addition to being fun to be around, she'd probably also give you a cookie for choosing her. And who doesn't like cookies?

Now I am not advocating giving flattery, which is much different than true gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling, emotion, or attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or will receive.(according to wikipedia, but what do they know?) Gratitude is a truly thankful, and caring emotion being shared with another. Gratitude is when your granddaughter comes to you on her birthday with tears in her eyes thanking you for the new pony.

Flattery is the act of giving excessive compliments, generally for the purpose of ingratiating oneself with the subject. (Again from wikipedia) You flatter someone with compliments that they don't necessarily deserve for the hopes that you will be able to get “in” with them. It is not truly thankful, or truly anything really. Flattery is when the salesman tells your overweight wife how good she looks, with the intended affect of getting her to make you buy her the new television.

As shown by my totally realistic examples above, you can see right through flattery. It is fake. It is tacky. It's just not helpful. Why would you want to do it? Now, I am not saying that there is no place for flattery, but don't try to use it in a situation that better warrants gratitude. It will get you nowhere.

Gratitude works in a similar manner to the positive affirmations noted in yesterdays post. You get what you give. And when you are sending out positivity, and showing that you appreciate what you have people notice and send that positivity back to you.

Prove me wrong. Take out a sheet of paper and make a list of ten things that you are truly grateful for. Think about how you acquired/experienced them. Why they are so important to you. What change they have made to your life. Where you would be without them. When you are done with the list step back and reflect upon gratitude and its place in your life.

I appreciate your taking the time to read this far. Thank you for your time. (And a +1 wouldn't hurt either!)