Today I thought I’d share a little bit with you about how and why I started The Gratitude Experiment.
Since the age of 16, when I was introduced to meditation and Ernest Holmes’ The Science of Mind (which is basically the idea that we are, in essence, spiritual beings and our thoughts are creative) I have pursued spirituality with a passion. I have always been a meditator, a positive thinker and consider myself an optimist. I’ve given workshops, lectures, written a book and many articles on various aspects of New Thought and how we can work with the Law of Attraction to manifest our heart’s desires. I have experienced miraculous demonstrations in my own life using these techniques. My life is not perfect. My consciousness is not perfect. But I consider myself immensely blessed.
I’ve always included the idea of gratitude as part of this practice, but I realize now, that I had only skimmed the surface. I did not understand how powerful the practice of proactive gratitude can be…until recently…
…Until one very cold day last November when I went for a run in the woods close to where we live in North Carolina with my dog. I was deep in thought about my life. I couldn’t understand why, with all the meditation and imaging and affirmations and prayers that there were things that were not going well…at all. I was having tremendous challenges with one of my children. I wondered why my beloved Love & Blessings business was failing. You probably know how this goes…one negative “woe-is-me” thought follows another. I quickly became consumed by the idea that all the opportunities in my career had passed me by and how unfair it all seemed. It was unusually cold and most of the trees had already shed their leaves. I was running tired and kept stumbling over stones and tree roots. I was just considering turning back, when my dog (on leash) stopped and sniffed at something for what seemed like an eternity. Irritated at the idea of being forced to stop, I grumbled something, and then suddenly…I looked up and noticed it.
The sun had broken through the clouds and appeared to be shining directly on one tree in a grassy patch. This tree still had its leaves which had turned golden, and in the direct sunlight it positively glowed. I stood there in amazement. “What beauty! What a gift this is!” How could I dwell on all that appeared wrong in life when this miracle stood before me? As I began to open to gratitude for this, a wave of love and gratitude flooded me and I felt like I was floating. I felt so one with tree and with the forest.
I started to give thanks to the universe for the beauty of this site, and then gave thanks to my dog for stopping me so that I wouldn’t miss it. I was grateful for the whole forest and for the opportunity to run in it that morning with my dog. Well, as it happens with gratitude, one gratitude led to another and then to another, and another. This attitude of sudden gratitude started slipping into my thoughts about my life and, before long, I began to realize my life was pretty darned blessed. My thoughts turned to all the prosperity, love and well-being in my life. A blast of energy rushed through my body and I was suddenly leaping over stones and roots.
When I got back home I was changed…perhaps forever. Not because of the mystical experience I had in the woods (although that sure helped), but because I made a committment to practice gratitude on a much deeper level than ever before. Mystical experiences don’t carry us through challenging days. They are, by nature, fleeting. It takes practice to incorporate what we know into our daily lives, in order to experience transformation.
A few days later, I decided that, in order to support myself in my gratitude practice, and perhaps inspire and support others in their transformational practice of gratitude, I would keep a blog and update it daily. This site went up Thanksgiving Day and has been a source of support for my own practice of intentional…or “proactive” gratitude…and for many others as well. I hope it is for you too. For more info on what “proactive” gratitude is and how to participate, simply click on the How to Participate tab by the sunset on the top left.
