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The Power of Gratitude
"None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.
Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves,
and spend without fear of bankruptcy."
-Fred DeWitt VanAmburgh
My friend and mentor, Jack Canfield, has publicly shared some of his experiences growing up with an abusive father and an alcoholic mother. Although these childhood experiences were not pleasant, he shares that he has been grateful for all them. Some of his greatest gifts and strengths as an adult were developed as a result of what he experienced as a child. He has learned to embrace his life experiences and be grateful for it all.
I know someone else who grew up in similar circumstances. As an adult, he is bitter, disconnected, and lives a "victim" life, looking for every handout that he can get from the government, while taking little or no responsibility for his own circumstances. After all, he is focused on what the world owes him because of his less-than-ideal upbringing.
Here we have two adults with similar childhoods, yet they are living vastly different lives today. One lives in a beautiful home, runs the business of his dreams, and shares his life with a beautiful family. He has positively impacted millions of lives with his best-selling books and his world-famous workshops and coaching programs. The other fears becoming homeless, has no job, is divorced and has no relationship with his daughter. What's the difference? One is focused on gratitude and moving forward productively. The other is focused on being a victim, blaming others, and is not taking productive action to change his circumstances. Both of these adults are getting more of what they are focused on.
Six years ago I sank into a deep depression after our daughter (our only child) left home for college and my husband and I became empty-nesters. At the same time, some serious family challenges came to a head as a result of my brother's drug and alcohol addiction.
In the depths of my depression, a friend called to check on me. She asked if I would commit to beginning each day by sending a card of gratitude to someone I cared about for the next seven days. I promised that I would do that. The first couple days this was really a challenge for me, because I was not in a place where I felt grateful for much of anything. But each day I thought of someone I was grateful for and I sent a card.
Getting out of my "pity party" and thinking about who and what I was grateful for had a profound impact on me. By the end of the seven days of doing this daily gratitude ritual, my depression had lifted.
More than six years later, I continue my daily gratitude ritual of sending a card to someone, expressing appreciation for something that they said or did. This habit of beginning each day with gratitude sets the tone for my whole day. It has done amazing things for my relationships, too.
My friend, Mike—a man in his mid 40s-- also practices this daily gratitude ritual. He recently shared the following story with me. A couple weeks ago he was thinking about who he wanted to send his gratitude card to that day. His sixth-grade teacher popped into his head--someone he had not seen for many years, but who'd had a significant impact on his life. Mike decided to do a little Internet search and he found his former teacher's mailing address. He sent him a card, expressing his gratitude for the positive imprint that this teacher left on his life more than three decades ago. Mike signed the card and included his phone number. A few days after sending the card, Mike's phone rang. It was his sixth-grade teacher, who was so choked up that he had a hard time talking. He had just received Mike's card. He told him that in his 35 years of teaching, that card and Mike's heartfelt message of gratitude meant more to him than anything else he had ever received.
Cost of the card: $1.07 for the card and stamp, and a few minutes of Mike's time to research the address and write his heartfelt message
Value to the recipient: priceless!
Value to the sender when he received the call about his card: priceless!
My friend Julie recently shared a story about a card of gratitude that she sent to someone. Several weeks went by and the woman she sent the card to did not acknowledge receiving it. About a month later, Julie hosted a meeting in her home, and the recipient of her gratitude card was one of the attendees. Still, the woman said nothing. At the end of the meeting, the woman asked Julie to walk her out to her car. She told Julie that she had received her card and was so touched by it that she was having trouble coming up with words to express how much the card meant to her. She had held off saying anything because she knew if she did, she'd probably start to cry (which she did).
Our expressions of gratitude and appreciation will sometimes touch people in ways we may never even know.
If you are noticing what you appreciate and are grateful for, you can't be noticing what you don't like at the same time. As more of your thoughts and words become positive, you'll start attracting more positive people and circumstances into your life. Michael Losier, an expert on the Law of Attraction, says: "Decide today that you are going to reduce negativity in your life by getting rid of the 'don'ts,' 'nots' and 'no's'—the negative people, the negative thoughts. Get in the habit of appreciating things."
Who would you regret not having expressed your gratitude to if they were suddenly gone? How would your life be different if you started each day by sending a message of gratitude to someone who has touched your life in some way?
Think of the last time you received an unexpected gesture of gratitude. How did that make you feel? This single new habit will produce amazing results in your business and personal life!
Take the
30 Day Gratitude Challenge!
I invite you to participate in the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge. With enough people doing this, we can change the world -- one card of gratitude at a time! My goal is to collectively attract 10,000 people who will participate. That's 300,000 cards of gratitude being sent into the world! I'd love to have your help!
Here's how it works . . .
Commit to sending a card of gratitude each day for the next 30 days. It will cost you about a dollar a day to send a real card in the mail (with a real stamp), using a free web-based system I will help you get set up with.
After you complete the challenge, if you find that this has not had a positive impact on your life, I will pay for your cards. That's how confident I am that this daily gratitude ritual will become a game-changer in your life! To qualify for this Gratitude Challenge, you must fully participate by sending one card a day over 30 days—not sending 30 cards on one day.
You will experience the greatest benefit from this process when you BEGIN each day by expressing gratitude, as this sets the tone for your whole day. You will be amazed at what you attract into your life and how following this new daily habit will enrich your relationships.
If you'd like to commit to the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge, and perhaps even teach it to others, please email me and I'll provide more information to help you get started.
You may find this one habit to be so powerful that you decide to do it for a lifetime, as I have!
POWERFUL STORY ABOUT GRATITUDE: I added the story below after I published this article in early June. This story was posted on Facebook in late June, and it's too good not to share:
Wow! I never dreamed this Gratitude Challenge could be so huge. I did my 30+ days and plan to continue. It has done the following for me. Two of my former career bosses were greatly touched and left phone messages which I have kept. My former 2 business partners have changed their interactions with me to being more personal. I had one of my golf buddies thank me with tears in his eyes. My longest and best friend of over 65 years called me late at night telling me his card was a landmark milestone in his life. The best was the healing with my daughter who was estranged with me over personal matters. After receiving my card, she called on Father's Day. I called her 3 days later on her 46th birthday. Now I am invited to visit her and the family in a few weeks in North Carolina!
Why would anyone not do this?
Dave Wainwright
Rancho Bernardo, CA
Father's Day is June 17th!
Send encouragement and appreciation to those you
care about...without leaving your home or office,
for less than a dollar a card!
I invite you to send a FREE card to express your love & appreciation to any of the father figures in your life. Do it now by clicking here, while it’s on your mind! On the last screen, you can choose the SEND date for when you want your card to be printed and taken to the post office.
You'll have more than 150 Father's Day cards to choose from (under Holidays), or you can make your own. Your card will be printed with your heartfelt message inside, stuffed, addressed, stamped and delivered to the post office for you.
This is also a great way for a business owner or independent professional to stay top-of-mind, which translates into more business. Click here to learn more and try it for free! |
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Next webinar is Tuesday, June 12, 2012
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The Music of Your Heart:
Freedom to Live the Life of Your Dreams
Through Network Marketing
www.TheMusicOfYourHeart.com
Although my book was written especially for network marketing professionals, several of the people who reviewed it plan to purchase a copy for their family and friends who are not in the network marketing profession. It is full of valuable tips and tools that can be used in any walk of life. Click here to learn more about the treasures that await you in this book, or read some excerpts!
In addition to writing my book, I also wrote lyrics to a song and recorded that song. The CD accompanies the book. You can also hear the song right now, Listen to Your Heart, by going to my website above.
If you’d like to access the Foreword by Jack Canfield, as well as my Introduction and the first chapter of my book, please visit the website and look for the "Read Excerpts" link.
My book has been selected by the DSWA (Direct Selling Women's Alliance) to launch their Direct Selling Mastermind Book Club. This is a new global chapter program, and they have selected five books to study in 2012. I am deeply honored that they have chosen to launch their new program with my book. They launched the program by interviewing me on 2/15/12, and you can listen to the interview here.
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