GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 30: “Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”― Abhishek Ratna
Yes! All of that…I am usually ready to move into a new month and write about a new topic, but am always sad when November is over. Gratitude is my baby, my life, my reason to write in the first place. I started this whole blog and my website around doing Gratitude writings 7 or 8 years ago. All the time and energy I have spent have helped me through some interesting and tough times. I am grateful for that.
Every year I say I am going to quit doing this. I get tired of my own voice, but there is always something that keeps me writing. If I only wrote about the deep practice of gratitude, I would not feel that. It is a lot like the work I did for so many years. I would be very weary sometimes, thinking that my work was a big waste of time. Working with addiction is tough, when you are focused on success rather than just the connection with other addicts. And I would have stories around people dying from addiction that were precious to me. Yeah, so what?
Ego told me there was something that needed to change, and I wanted to be the Change-maker. Good frigging luck kid! I will always be a teacher of these things, and if the only measure I have is that others have actually done what I do, it will be an empty life. I can only do it because MY life is better for it. I will have had these many instances of spiritual awakening and happiness. And whatever I give out is only to enhance the message that there IS something bigger than me, which I found through this amazing process of 12 steps. How can I not be screaming my gratitude at every turn?
A dear friend is 43 years into his recovery, and we had a beautiful conversation this morning about how blessed we are to have had the relationships we have had these many years. He was a big part of the early days for me and knew all the key players who shaped my little newcomer life. They were Superstars for both of us. And so it goes. Everything in this quote has come to pass, a million times over, for me in this journey. I must continue to testify to the power of Gratitude as a dedicated practice, not a vocal blah-blah, but a true practice, of nearly 35 years as THE key for me. And love the month of November when the focus is on THAT. The other 11 months are important too…but this will always be my favorite…rightly so.
Dolphin Hug 