November Twenty-Twenty-Three

 

God of the everyday
Thank you that you
Make no divide
Between ordinary
And extraordinary
May we be blessed
To see you in the mundane
And ordinary tasks
Which you have gifted us this day
-Jeannie Kendall 

There are numerous studies on how practicing gratitude benefits well-being, physical health, and fosters community. Indeed, when we think about the gifts that surround us — provision, love, support, the wonders of nature — we refocus and reframe our experiences. We literally learn to see the world differently. But not in a kind of Pollyanna-ish, denial way. Rather, gratitude gives us a wider lens, one that allows for deeper dimensionality and realistic color, that enables us to draw previously invisible meaning and purpose from life and opens us to possibilities of hope and compassion we didn’t know we had. Gratitude isn’t magic, but its benefits are enormous.  -Diana Butler Bass 

Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given; gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us. - David Whyte

a CRAZY Yes! 

Gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it; we’re less likely to take it for granted. In effect, I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life. We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life. Instead of adapting to goodness, you celebrate goodness. With gratitude, we become greater participants in our lives as opposed to spectators.  -Brene Brown, Atlas of the Heart 

A practice of gratitude is not about dismissing sadness, anger, fear, or confusion. Rather, it offers us the opportunity to see that we often experience multiple feelings at once; to welcome joy into the same places where we hold grief; to turn our attention to what is quietly growing and breathing day by day, which, to our possible surprise, includes ourselves. -Kristin Lin

No amount of regret changes the past. No amount of anxiety changes the future. Any amount of gratitude changes the present. -Ann Voskamp