LIVING IN GRATITUDE

Do you think you don't have much to feel grateful for? I'm sure we've all had those days, but I know many people who actually believe it. I found a great cure for that last night that brought me to tears.
Although your life may not be exactly the way you want it yet, if you know anything about the Law of Attraction you realize that they way things are now are a direct result of your past thoughts. If you have changed your thinking, either to more positive or more negative, your life will have changed accordingly. Probably the biggest aspect of working with the Law of Attraction to create the life you desire, is being grateful for what you already have. Whenever you have a hard time with that try this exercise.
Take a look around you, at people that you know, then at people a little further from you. For example, many years ago when I was married I was abused by my alcoholic husband. Today I am very grateful when I look at my friend Kasey, that I was not seriously injured. Sure I ended up with a scar or two, one of which is just above my upper lip, but it's barely noticeable now. Then I look at Kasey, who was thrown off a fourth floor balcony by her then boyfriend. She wasn't as fortunate and ended up with permanent damage to one arm, which she can no longer use. For the past 6 years she has been raising her daughter on her own and is currently addicted to drugs which has caused her to lose custody of her daughter. While I also had a drug addiction, I was able to kick it before there was any danger of losing my children. For both of those situations I am very grateful.
This past year my mother passed away after a long fight with breast cancer and upsetting as that was for me, my best friend lost his 24 year old son in a tragic accident only 8 days before my mother passed. I had 49 years with my mother and she had a good life, but my friend and his son had a short time together. I am very grateful for the time I got with my mother.
When I left my abusive husband over 20 years ago, my children were very young and grew up in what is considered poverty where I live. They didn't have designer clothes and most of their clothes were bought at second hand thrift stores. There were days that we had to get food from a food bank and the latest toys were out of the question. We didn't have our own home and moved quite often when the cockroaches got to be too much to handle. Their father disappeared and I was left to raise them completely alone.
Last night I was watching the TV show "American Idol Gives Back" and they were raising funds for "Save the Children". They showed scenes of children in Africa who are orphans because both parents had died of Aids. In some cases the children were also HIV positive, or the oldest sibling was left to raise the others. They couldn't attend school and had barely enough food to keep them alive, never mind a fancy home. There are also many families that were victims of Hurricane Katrina that still suffer because of it. There homes and everything in them were destroyed and they are slowly trying to rebuild their lives. In other areas of the U.S. children don't even have a safe place to play due to the fear of being shot in a drive by and I can't imagine how scared their parents are.
As I watched the show there were tears in my eyes, tears of gratitude for my life, such as it is. I couldn't help feeling so grateful for my childrens' lives and the things that they did have growing up. They are all grown now and have blessed me with grandchildren. Even though we still don't have the dream home, fancy cars, gourmet food and designer clothing, I know that being grateful for what we do have will bring more of it into our lives.
So the next time you feel as if you have little or nothing to feel grateful for, take a look around you and wake up! There are so many others with less than you have and the fact that you are able to even read this article proves that. If that is all that you have to be grateful for, start there and if you really pay attention to those less fortunate, you will move into a constant state of gratitude and have even more to be grateful for.
After reading this article, if you still can't find anything in your life to be grateful for, please feel free to email me at dlroxb@hotmail.com and I would be happy to help you find it!