Gratitude (2 or II or too)

This time of year I think about what the history books (again) tried to put forth as truth, the visitors to the 'new world' being helped by the native people and having a happy little party together. And I think about the realities of the commercially raised turkeys, their sad short disrespected lives  . . . .

So join with me and springboard off all that and please post your favorite gratitude quotes AND/OR what are you grateful for? (Gratitude underlies Permaculture, doesn't it? Earthcare, People Care, Fair Share and Gratitude - that's what I learned in my PDC.)

I'll start you off with a few . . ..

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. - Native American Proverb
(When you hold this thought on your journey, does it change the destination?)

For me losing isn't failure, it is research. - Billie Jean King

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel when you say your nightly prayer. - Maya Angelou
(How many little blessings graced your day?)

Genius is the ability to receive from the universe. - I Ching

Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you, every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.  - Florida Scott-Maxwell

Goodness of heart is a continuous feast. - Proverbs 15:15

For all that has been - THANKS. For all that shall be - YES. - Dag Hammarskjold

Walls turned sideways are bridges. - Angela Davis
(How can you turn some of your walls into bridges? Donald?)

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. - Willie Nelson

Just to BE is a blessings. Just to live is HOLY. - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to LIVE gratitude is to touch heaven. - Johannes A. Gaertner

I am grateful to be part of this community, for all of you, for all I learn, for our shared values and visions, for our differences, for your kindness and generosity, for making me smile and laugh. - Lee Gee

Blessings . . . .

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

~ Leonard Cohen

I forget how, but somewhere I came across an article titled Gratitude is the Antidote by Justin Sebastian. I occasionally go back and reread it, because I tend to forget or get distracted, and I need to remind myself that positive thoughts and negative thoughts are all in my head, and I can choose how I think and how I can have a more fulfilling life. I want to share some quotes from the article.

I sat down in a cafe and found an exercise called “gratitude letters”.
Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, has shown “gratitude letters” to have a profound positive impact on well-being. I followed his simple instructions and wrote a gratitude letter to an old high school friend through Facebook.
To say that the transformation was incredible, would be an understatement.
In 15 minutes my entire mindset shifted.

I tell my wife that I am grateful to be married to her, and the life we have together. It's not much, but I think it makes me feel just as good as she feels hearing it.

Gratitude is powerful because it shifts your attention. The unfortunate truth about the human mind is that it lives in a default state of psychic entropy. When we are left alone, with no demands on attention, the basic disorder of the mind reveals itself. With nothing to do, the mind begins to follow random patterns. Attention will be attracted to whatever is most problematic at the moment: it will focus on some real or imaginary pain, on recent grudges or long-term frustrations.
If you choose to spend your attention ruminating on the all negative events in your lives, you are going to have an unfulfilling life.
On the other hand, if you use gratitude to rewire your brain, you can shift your thoughts towards positivity.

I can vouch for this. It works. Our minds are amazing.

Gratitude is the antidote. When you are experiencing true feelings of gratitude, there is no room for anything else. It is impossible to be grateful and angry at the same time, it is impossible to be grateful and fearful at the same time.

I'll stop here with the quotes. This simple short article this gentleman wrote and shared with the world on the internet is powerful. His words impacted my life, and I keep going back to reread what he wrote. Here is the link to the article in its entirety for those who choose to read more.

https://medium.com/@jayseb11/gratitude-is-the-antidote-the-happiness-hack-backed-by-research-3ca3317494e2#.v1am7cltc

Without question the act of being ungrateful (uncontended) is insidious.

I know a woman who lamented on Facebook one time that "she would never get her house". She was living in a garage, and wanted a real home, so I felt pity on her, and having lots of land, and even more trees, cut enough logs and sawed enough lumber on the sawmill to build her an entire house. Then she came over and asked if her adult children could move into our house, so I moved my family into a Tiny House only to have her kids refuse to move in because we did not provide heat or utilities for the house in the rent.

Two years later they have not even got the foundation done for their home, but they have been on half a dozen vacations to foreign countries, and just as many across the United States. Not once has she ever said thank you for giving her all the lumber to build her home. I figured it out once, it was probably around $20,000 worth of wood that I gave her, and not even a thanks.

Myself...

I struggle with gratitude as well, especially lately. I remember what I used to be like before I lost my health, and all that I could do, and then thinking about what that will be like as I get even older...I cringe, and have not been very grateful I admit. But deep down, I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

I will be content with what I do have.

Today I'm very grateful for my friends, in the "real world" and online!

My favorite gratefulness quote is an excerpt from a simple rock 'n roll song:

I used to worry 'bout the money comin' in
Now I stick it in the charity bin
I used to whine and I used to complain, but we...
We've all seen a little rain

Take a look at the life you lead
What you got is all you need
The blind bleeding the blind in greed
What you got is all you need


- Monroe, Ginger