The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Today I will be pulling directly from The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie.
"Say thank you, until you mean it.
Thank God, life, and the universe for everyone and everything sent your way.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance,chaos to order,confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn existence into real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Gratitude makes things right.
Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude's power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic.
Say thank you, until you mean it. If you say it long enough, you will believe it.
Quote of the Day: We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have turns it into more - Codependent No More
Today's Thought: Today I will shine the transforming light of gratitude on all the circumstances of my life."
Something was pulling me to this book today. I had my Courage to Change out, but something kept pushing me to get out Melody's book and read today. Now I know why!
August 1st! I made it to August! On the 14th, I will have been separated 3 years, divorced two. At first, I didn't think I would survive the heartache. Then I didn't think I could manage financially on my own. So many fears! However, more than my F2F meetings, this forum here saved me!
In the beginning, Betty had advised me to make out a Gratitude List. Even if it was one word... one word was a start. I thought she was cuckoo for giving me that ESH... I mean, I felt like I had nothing to be grateful for! She gave me examples of what her Gratitude list looked like at first. That was indeed helpful. So I started small. Real small. But there was definitely something to this... like my book quote says, "There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude's power." How true!! I soon found out, that taking that daily moment to say "Thank You," really helped me to feel good! Some days, it was the only thing I felt good about, and I clung onto that Gratitude List with desperation! At that time, I could truly relate to the reading's, "If you say it long enough, you will believe it." I think that was me!
Today, I recite my list, and say my Thank You's in the car on my commute to work. There are things I say "Thank You" for each day... and there are things that just pop up in my brain out of the blue. I add them all. While I am at it, I then ask my HP to help me overcome my shortcomings, and to be a better person on that day. Now, I just don't say it, but I mean it!!
Today, August 1st, thank your HP that you have made it to this month! Despite the virus, despite the hardships of being furloughed or working too much due to being an essential worker. Thank HP for your eyes that can see the blue of the sky, the shine of the sun on the green grass, the riotous color of summer flowers. Thank HP for your ears to hear the sounds of nature, or the beloved sound of your child's voice.
Thank you, HP... for giving me today!
Wishing everyone here &
__________________
"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
Oh BIG blessing for me to read this and ya know what??? I posted the original "next door" but to read your ESH was really great...Betty taught me the gratitude thingy as well...she would email me and make me do a "list for the day" to be grateful for....and I, too, was so into self pity, I could not do anything but maybe ONE thing to thank HP for (whom at the time I did not believe in any HP but the program) anyway, the list stayed small for a while, but then it grew because it opened me up to SEE more things to be grateful for....and the more I am grateful , the more I am given to be grateful for.....now it comes much more easily for me to say "thank you for" to my HP....it helps me believe in my good/provisions coming and HP has been great to meet my needs and I DO say thank you LOTS now
Great post, ((((((((((((((((PNP))))))))))))))))) loved your ESH
& 
Oh Yay! Oh vey...!!! Thanks for the reading, and sharing P.!
...