3 minute read
The Amazing Power of Gratitude
The Forgiveness Series
THE AMAZING POWER OF GRATITUDE
By Jo Ann Rotermund
Jo Ann Rotermund, author, speaker, and forgiveness coach, spent her life being a victim until 2001, when her study of forgiveness helped heal her past and bring personal power, freedom, and joy into everything she does. Now retired from a 30 year career in social research and married 54 years, Jo Ann, who is absolutely passionate about forgiveness, has committed the rest of her life to inspiring others to make forgiveness a natural way of living, healing themselves and their world in the process. Her book, THE FORGIVENESS HABIT: an Action Plan for Healing Ourselves and Our Planet, with a foreword by Desmond Tutu, provides all you need to know to start making forgiveness a natural part of your life. The book is available thru Amazon and thru Jo Ann Rotermund at www.theforgivenesshabit.org
This article is the third in a series I am writing for this online magazine. The series is about forgiveness and how to make it a powerful and very useful part of your life. The first article (in the first issue of this magazine) was about forgiveness and what it is and what it is not. The second article (in the second issue of this magazine) was about three habits we all have that make forgiveness seem so very difficult.
This third article is about a beautiful habit we can all develop that will help make forgiveness a natural part of one’s life. That very powerful habit is GRATITUDE, expressing lots of gratitude every single day. Gratitude can turn an ordinary day into a great day. Expressing gratitude will uplift your mood.
I call gratitude a practice because very few of us grow up with any idea of the power of living in gratitude. Even after we learn about its awesome power, we still have to remember to make a conscious effort to practice it daily until it becomes a way of life for us. There are two reasons gratitude is so very powerful and therefore so very useful:
1. You cannot be unhappy and grateful at the same time. It is mentally and emotionally impossible. I have often utilized this knowledge to clear and open my heart space and for use in groups I am leading. Everyone loves thinking, writing, and sharing what they are grateful for because it feels so good! 2. Thoughts you focus on multiply and give you more of what you adore. When you think upsetting, angry, or negative thoughts, your mind will automatically create more of those thoughts.
Therefore, several times a day, every day, write down some things, situations, and people for which you are grateful, and your thoughts will be transformed! Your mind, then gives you more thoughts of gratitude, love, and joy. You are suddenly free and able to see the world with new eyes – the eyes of the heart.
Seeing with those eyes enables you to think the thoughts and take the actions which give you the amazing, magical, miraculous life you crave.
Gratitude, when practiced as a powerful way of living, changes everything. Even after we learn about its awesome power, we still have to make a conscious effort to practice it daily, until it becomes a way of life for us.
Expressing gratitude can turn an ordinary day into a great day. The more you are in a state of gratitude the more you will attract things to be grateful for. Practicing gratitude daily is one of the most powerful, positive habits you can develop.
Make gratitude the background music for your life. If all you did was look for things to appreciate, and then express your gratitude, you would live a joyous spectacular life and forgiveness would become a natural part of that amazing life. Go for it!!!
