“Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
–Melody Beattie
Gratitude snuck up on me today.
Gratitude is a wily beast! It captured me in a google search and surrounded me in its giant warm hug.
It came to me through a poem from Melody Beattie, who many years ago brought me hope through her wonderful book, The Language of Letting Go.
I did not know until today that she passed away this year. Nor did I know how her childhood led her to alcoholism and drug addiction, from which the hard-won wisdom of her books arrived.
She showed up for me at just the right time and I am still deeply grateful for her wisdom.
In honor of Melody, and with her as my co-writer today, I bring you these thoughts.
Gratitude is Medicine for Life
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough
and more.”
Medicine is that which makes us well. It heals what ails us and brings life to the lifeless and hope to the hopeless. How is it that gratitude brings hope and life? Perhaps it takes us out of the problem for a moment and opens the solution part of our brain. No one knows for sure, but many attest to its value.
Gratitude is the Master of Chaos
“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.”
If you need evidence about the claims in favor of gratitude, maybe try it tomorrow: Thanksgiving. Maybe take it on a trial run this weekend.
Some others who recommend gratitude? Jesus of Nazareth, Shakespeare, Emerson, Thoreau, Dickens, Maya Angelou, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, Brené Brown, and Deepak Chopra.
An interesting (fun?) rabbit hole to go down on the internet would be finding out what these folks have to say about gratitude.
Gratitude is an Anchor in the Storm.
“It turns problems into gifts
failures into successes, the unexpected into
perfect timing and mistakes into important events.”
There are so many storms in life. In the life of widowed people, especially in those first few years, storms are legion. Small storms often feel impossible. Big storms can take us down.
Gratefully, there are many widowed sources and therapeutic options to get help and support. Here’s a great place to start: Widowed Village
Gratitude is Magic
“It can turn an existence into a real life
and disconnected situations
into important and beneficial lessons.”
In year two of my widowhood, my life felt like an existence. I watched the clock to see if it was bedtime yet. I numbed myself with busyness or by focusing on one task at the expense of many necessary tasks that actually needed attention.
Grief is an imperfect process. We do the best we are able to do and that is enough. However, reading Melody’s words today came to me like magic. So, yeah. Maybe gratitude is magic after all.
May
gratitude
sneak
up
on
you
today.
Thank you, Melody, for transforming your pain and passing on tips for the rest of us.
GRATITUDE
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 an existence into a 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.
