Finding a Better Way to...Cultivate Gratitude

Guess who's back? It's me! This blog is dusty. I mean - it has been MONTHS since my last post, MONTHS. So much in my life has changed over the course of those months. But, I'm not posting to give y'all a play-by-play of my life since September 10, 2013. Instead, I felt that now was as good a time as any to reopen this part of myself. I'm embarking on a journey towards gratitude this summer, and I'm inviting my blog followers to tag along. This is mostly to keep me accountable. But, also, to hopefully help you out, too, as we all journey towards finding a better way to live a life of gratitude.

A Real Fine Place to Start

Lately in church, the preacher has been talking directly to me. Not literally, of course, but in the way that feels like the sermon is tailored especially for what I'm going through in life at that moment. And, this has been happening for quite some time. The first sermon that spoke directly to my soul's current struggle happened some time in February, if memory serves me correctly. I thought it was pretty cool and just so happened to apply to the current issue I was facing. But, then, it happened again. And, then again. And it basically hasn't stopped. So, I took that as a sign that a) perhaps my listening skills got better and b) (perhaps a less vain perspective) God is really trying to reiterate certain truths to me. So, I figured I better not only listen up, but also reflect. And, upon reflection, I realized that there were a lot of areas in my spiritual growth that needed some tender love and care. Compiling a list of things that I needed to either cut out or add more or redefine altogether really overwhelmed me. So, instead, I decided to start with gratitude.

Guided Gratefulness 

Cultivating a grateful life is actually a lot trickier than I had anticipated. Maybe because I have a mental tendency to make things a lot more trickier than they have to be, but I digress on that point. I found that it was constantly a mental tug-o-war in my mind. For example, I would think of someone I was really grateful for, but then turn around and doubt that the feelings were mutual. Or, I would think of a situation that I'm grateful to have, and then wonder if I really should be happy about it. Strange, right? So, I was having issues resolving these oppositions within. It made me frustrated and feel like I was drowning in a sea of self-doubt and hopelessness. (If this sounds a tad bit dramatic, it's because it is. But the sentiment is genuine, nonetheless).

So I decided to seek help from an audiobook entitled, Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy by M.J. Ryan. I'm going to attempt to work patiently through this book by listening to only one chapter a day and deeply reflecting on how to apply it to my life. Here's where the accountability comes in: if I'm really going to do this - only read one chapter a day - I need some way to hod myself to that limit. So, I have decided to post daily quotes from each chapter on my blog's Facebook page (Like Finding A Better Way if you haven't done so yet!). By publicly announcing my plan, I'm hoping that this virtual contract I have created with you, the readers, will keep me steadily on track. I'm trying to really work through things and to stop speeding through those areas of my spiritual growth that need special attention. Thanks for you help! (Betcha didn't know you were going to end up helping me today, didja!)

This is the quote from the first part of Chapter 2 to get us started. I've taken the liberty of jazzing it up a little, enjoy!