Gratitude is a form of worship in its own right, as it implies the acceptance of a power greater than yourself: whether that power is another person who is able to provide what you want or need, or something higher still.
Gratitude is also an acknowledgement that we cannot do everything, as well as a recognition that, sometimes, things happen at just the right place and at the right time.
The ability to feel and express genuine gratitude for the help given when it is needed most, for the gift or boon that is given at just the right time and under the right circumstances, is a way of surrendering one’s self to benevolent external forces.
It also opens us to yet more blessings, as the power which ensures that they come our way is a responsive one.
However grateful your demeanor and your words may be, however, if your inner voice, your true self, is so mean-spirited that it cannot express it sincerely and fully then you cut yourself off from this power which sends blessings your way.
The more grateful we are, the more we practice this in our everyday lives, the more connected we become to the universe around us.
This is because we set forth a power that reaches out to all corners of the universe. As mentioned earlier, it is also a form of surrender, so in our openness, we leave room for more good things to come our way.
If in the early stages of your practice you have a hard time being positive, then practice daily gratitude.
You do this by being thankful for a new day to start out anew. At day’s end, be thankful that you survived it if you can find nothing else to be grateful for.
When someone does something for you, however seemingly unimportant, give genuine thanks for their service, even if it was just a ticket you paid for, given by a clerk behind a booth.
Find something, anything, to be grateful and genuine in your gratitude about.
While this may seem difficult in the beginning, make it a practice. Better yet, keep a journal where you find reasons to be grateful. The more you practice gratefulness in the beginning (even if it is mostly fake), you will find yourself genuinely becoming so in due time.
Eventually, you will find that you do not have to make things up. You will become so sensitive to the wonders, the goodness, and the abundance all around you that they cannot help but continue to come your way.
This is a good way to practice being positive, and a good way to overcome negativity.
There is a universal law which states that “like begets like”, and once you find yourself becoming more genuinely grateful as opposed to merely pretending, the universe will respond by giving you real people, things, and situations to be truly grateful about.
Once you see this power taking root in your life, you will find yourself seeing the futility of holding on to past negativity, to old grudges, to deeply held anger and hatred. You will see that you have been the cause of your own frustrations, however unintentionally or unwittingly.
The more consistently and persistently you practice genuine gratitude, the sooner blessings will come your way, as this responsive universe reciprocates your gratitude with its own.
As more good comes your way, your belief will increase, until you move past it into the realm of conviction.
This conviction will sustain you in times of seeming adversity or failure, and you will understand that sometimes, blessings do come to us in various guises. If we fail to see them as such, however, then the fault is ours, not that of the universe.
Copyright Stephen Richards
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