The Language of Letting Go: August 1st

  Gratitude

We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have turns it into more.
  —Codependent No More

Say thank you, until we mean it.

Thank God, life, and the universe for everyone and everything sent your way.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Gratitude makes things right.

Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude's power. We can start with whom we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic.

Say thank you, until you mean it. if you say it long enough, you will believe it.

Today, I will shine the transforming light of gratitude on all the circumstances of my life. 

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

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The key to gratitude is to live in the NOW; to appreciate each moment as it comes, and to stop thinking about the past or the future.

Our past is a story
existing only in our minds.
Look, analyze, understand, and forgive.
Then, as quickly as possible, chuck it.
Marianne Williamson

Each morning when I wake up, and again in the evening before going to sleep, I give thanks to God for all that I have and for all that I am. I give thanks for all good things that have happened during the day, and all not-so-good things as well.  Every event of the day was given to me as a blessing to learn from.  I no more curse the 'bad' events than rejoice in the 'good' ones.  I appreciate what IS, and embrace each day with acceptance.

For today, I will unlock the fullness of life by appreciating what I have right now, and showing gratitude in all circumstances.