GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 22: “Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful & fulfilling life.” – Jack Canfield
There are so many ways to practice gratitude. There was a very sweet movie made about “paying it forward”, which deals with the idea of doing kind acts for others in advance of being asked and without expectation of receiving anything from that person in return.
My original sponsor taught me to do things for others without saying anything about it. I understand this when I hear members share in meetings how many people they sponsor, how many panels they go on, how they do this or do that for others. It sounds like a commercial for How Great Am I? And it is not a good way for me to practice Humility or be spiritual on any level.
Other forms of gratitude are to have an ongoing mindfulness of how we best serve others. This can be in picking up trash around my neighborhood, on the beach, wherever I am hiking and see something that does not belong there. I have taken groups of clients out to clean up hiking trails and beaches. They are amazed at how good it feels to take care of their environment, even when their initial response to my request is: “People get paid to do that.”
Which isn’t true. There are few or no jobs for picking up litter on the streets or in Nature. My pet peeve is with smokers who throw down cigarette butts. I have been a dedicated smoker of 35 years, but not once did I throw one down on the ground. That is rude and disgusting to me. I have spent a lot of my life picking up cigarette butts that are lying on the ground. They don’t belong there, so I do it.
We all can be more mindful about these things, they are a payback for the beauty of the Earth that we walk upon. The more we focus on cleaning up the messes we encounter, especially those that we did not make, the more grateful we become that we are mindful enough to not make any more messes ourselves.
The more I focus on what I CAN do and CAN be, the less I focus on what I Don’t have and what I Don’t get to do or be. This is an important reminder for me to do what is in front of me. The consistent bending down to pick up things left on the ground is a good way to also remind myself of how grateful I am for a body that can bend (good exercise!) and that I can walk in these places (more good exercise!) and for the fresh air and clean environment we can all enjoy.
Saying thank you to life is a good practice. I have received such tremendous gifts of grace. I am not in recovery today because I won a special merit badge based on my old behaviors and attitudes. I am here because the Universal Force of Creation deemed it possible. I do not pray to my old drug dealers or bartenders for another day of Grace. I pray to the Source of this deal.
So, all that I do is to increase my feelings of happiness and joy in a life I did nothing to deserve. I am not worthy or unworthy, but I am in an ongoing state of Grace. My actions must reflect how grateful I am to continue to receive the grace and ongoing recovery.
Yes, I do the step work and all the other things that entail long-term recovery. But I must walk through the world like my life is a prayer of praise and gratitude…I must. And this is never done, but does increase each day as I am more mindful of what that truly means.
Dolphin Hug 