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Gratitude Changes Everything – Shana Ferrell Blog

By Jennifer Chambers posted 11-14-2018 15:33

  

autumn-11-12.jpgGratitude Changes Everything

Most of us already know that it’s good to be grateful. However, most people aren’t aware of the life-changing impact gratitude gives us. Gratitude is a very powerful transformation change agent, because it magnifies positive emotions. Having an attitude of gratitude is when we make it a daily habit to fully appreciate our present gifts, and find deep meaning in all parts of our life, with big and small things alike.

Expressing gratitude instantly shifts our energy into a positive state. A grateful mind is fixed on the best. So, with increased daily practice of grateful thoughts and energy, your mind takes on the form of positive energy, so that the good in everything moves toward you. Gratitude also allows us to celebrate the present. So, the more grateful you are, the more mindful you become.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like 
wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward

As Lewis Howes from The School of Greatness puts it, “If you concentrate on what you have, you’ll always have more.” This is what gratitude does…

  • It brings us back to life and wakes us up when we are sleeping.
  • It reminds us how lucky we are to have whatever it is that we have–our breath, sunshine, water to drink, a cool breeze.
  • It connects us to our past and future while anchoring us in the now.
  • Gratitude is like magic– sweetening the strawberry, stretching out the last dollar for days, turning a dump into a palace.
  • Gratitude can transform a curse into a blessing.
  • It can heal a broken heart. Make a poor man rich in the blink of an eye. Turn resentment into grace. Shift resistance to surrender.
  • Gratitude is the key to joy; it turns what we have into being enough.

For times when you feel like you don’t have enough or you’re not good enough, gratitude transforms scarcity into abundance. The next time things don’t seem to be going your way, try this: Think about all the things you have to be grateful for, and write them down as a Notes file in your phone, in a journal or in a jar. When you’re having a rough day, review these notes to help you refocus on these good things in your life. When you change the way you look at your problems, your problems will change. Also remember that someone is praying for the things you take for granted.

Another easy way to incorporate gratitude is to take five minutes of quiet time in the morning and ask for guidance for the day. Also take time to send love to those who bother you. 
Gratitude is one of the highest and purest forms of love because it demands nothing and depends on nothing. It’s an emotional process that arises as a feeling or experience that dwells within our heart.

Another healthy practice is to find ways to incorporate silence and time for grateful contemplation into our lives. Watch more sunrises and sunsets. Take more walks in nature to surround yourself with beautiful things. Gaze into the starry sky and “lose yourself” in small but meaningful peak experiences that are much greater than our human selves. These moments of awe and wonder show us the divine; they define our existence, our connectedness and our belonging within the entire universe.

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous 
and noble, to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.
Johannes A. Gaertner

For more inspirational writings of Shana please CLICK HERE to go to her website “Life Matters”.


ShanaFarrellsm.jpgPresenter Shana Farrell-Fox Valley Technical College

Shana has been with Fox Valley Technical College, Wisconsin for more than 21 years in numerous leadership positions including Business and Industry Services, Printing Services, Distance Learning, Adjunct Instructor for FVTC and Silver Lake College, and is currently a Project Manager within the Center for Instructional Excellence.  For many years, Shana was actively involved as an IPMA member in her role as Manager of Printing Services; FVTC continues its membership today.  Her professional experience includes management development, training coordination, marketing, advertising, fundraising, event coordination and sales. Shana holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Professional Communication from Alverno College, Milwaukee and a Master of Science Degree in Management and Organizational Behavior from Silver Lake College, Manitowoc.  Shana has extensive leadership experience as a graduate of Leadership Fox Cities, the Wisconsin Technical College System Leadership Development Institute (WLDI) and FVTC’s LEAD Academy.  She has been a Junior Achievement volunteer and is currently a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Outagamie County helping children who are abused or neglected.  Shana’s newest role is as a Life Coach facilitator trained through the Life Design Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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