GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 17: “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” ― G.K. Chesterton
Simple. When I had about 4-5 months in recovery, I heard, for the first time; a refrain that is one of the mainstays of my life since then: “Grateful people are happy people, and them that ain’t, ain’t.”
Now, I will always qualify that statement by saying that it was something said by a man I had a BIG crush on, so I heard it loud and clear.
He also had a strong Scottish accent, so it was one of the things he said often that I could understand. In my early days, all I could do was try to please others. He was someone I wanted to look good for, so I began to write a gratitude list every day.
The early days of this practice were interesting. Being newly sober, I did not have any idea how to make a gratitude list. One of the first things that happened to help me with this was the neighbor I had in my first little apartment. He was my age and his hair was falling out. He had some kind of disorder that made his hair fall out. So, I wrote I was grateful for hair.
I did not even know to whom I was writing my gratitude list in those days. It was a rough start, but a start, nonetheless.
Today, my practice has increased to include gratitude for NOT having gotten what I wanted with that man! Haha! More has been revealed. He and I even had a conversation about old behavior and ideas and that was the basis for the attraction for both of us.
That is how it was for me in those early years. I had not uncovered, discovered and discarded enough of my old thinking to be available for a meaningful and loving relationship. I was still pulling out my old bag of tricks in that arena.
I am grateful that there were fewer amends to make down the road for the stuff I held on to for so long. It is less invasive in my day-to-day living now.
This quote reminds me to be mindful of ALL the blessings in my life. Everything! And I am, and I do, and I have, and I will continue to do so. This is an EVERYDAY, all the time practice for me. There are no holidays and no sick days. There is only gratitude. And I get to be happy almost every day, almost all the time. Nothing is absolute, but my happiness is pretty darned near it!
That is the most perfect recipe I have ever used. It works, just like this step stuff works. I did not believe in either of them, but the miracles continue…so I keep compiling evidence that it works!
And I NEVER want to take either of these wonders for granted.
Dolphin Hug 