Learn • Laugh • Love

Gratitude!  It does a body good!

Ten years ago, Charley’s world shattered in one of the most traumatic, dramatic moments of his 43 years of life.  It all happened in about 16 seconds. Those seconds COULD have ended his life. Following a pattern (decades long in the making), he mindlessly drove home in the wee hours of the a.m. after yet another marathon day behind his desk.  He didn’t see the cab coming at all as he sped through a very stale yellow light while trying to make it home by only a few seconds earlier. The only thing he remembers is blacking out to wake up six days later hooked up to a chorus line of gadgets all beeping, blogging and blinking away at him.

Four years of intense, painful physical therapy left him practically homeless and on the edge of an bottomless pit of despair.  His medical insurance capped out after less than nine months. Six months in ICU does that. His family and friends quickly bailed when they faced their facts that they just didn’t have the time Charley required from them. The remaining bills seemed like a perverse – reverse lottery.  Little did he know at the time, he did WIN the lottery.

How?

While laying in bed for what seemed to be three lifetimes, Charley decided to go deep inside himself to explore HOW such an event could happen to him. Along with a couple of professionals, he faced his dark night of the soul.  His journey helped him see how he could shift shattered (now mended) bones, ripped (now repaired) muscles, fried friendships and a glacier of debt into one of the most compelling (best-seller) books you’ve ever read.  Anyone burned out from too many years of being a wage-slave thought Charley had written a book about THEIR LIFE! Bookstores couldn’t keep copies stocked fast enough.

Think gratitude!  Yes.  Gratitude!

As promised (from the previous article), here’s the first of many key words / definitions from what many others shared in workshops, seminars and blog-talk radio shows as they attempt to define worth.

Now, before you all start yelling (or typing comments into the comment box below),

“Ya SURE SOUL!  What a freakin dreamer!  How new-agey can you get here!! Can I give you $10.00 to buy a clue!?”

I kindly ask you to say to yourself, “Shush!  Listen up!”

Gratitude is one of the KEY dozen words / terms I’ve heard people say over the past three years while leading my “What is worth?” evening discussion groups, weekend seminars and blog-talk radio shows.  Gratitude is one of THE MOST POWERFUL feelings we’re blessed to experience.  GRATITUDE dissolves every road block to enjoying what you’re worth – every time!  How? It all depends on how you decide to view / feel about and work with what you’re given, each and every day.

Right now, gratitude (the subject of chapter ten in Pay Me What I’m Worth) seems to be in short supply.  Ironic!  Why?  For many, we’re surrounded with such abundance day in and day out, we take such abundance for granted.  When was the last time you were grateful for TOO much of something?

For example, have you noticed how CRANKY you get when you experience less than optimal health?  Often, by your own hands, you consume too much.  By the time you consume it, it’s too late!  Feeling crappy is all but part of the process the next hour, day, week or life depending on what level of debauchery or lack of attention you decided to inflict upon yourself (and, as a ripple effect – on others).

GRATITUDE for feeling CRAPPY is one of THE MOST powerful ways of avoiding feeling crappy in the future. I know this well.  As a person who retired over 100 pounds, I know all too well what I felt like at almost 300 pounds!  I’m grateful for this experience for it guides me on my path to maintain optimal health with every mouthful, step or thought I take, daily.  The next time I’m tempted to eat a burger and fries, with a smile (generated from a sense of gratitude) I recall how yucky I felt after eating the last burger and fries.  Any desire to feel that bad again inspires me to find something better to eat!

So, the next time something awful happens to you, how will you turn that event into something amazing?  How will you FLIP IT to gratitude?

Need help turning lemons into lemonade?  Join this conversation!  Click into the comment box below and type out our situation. See what others come up with for you.  I’ll chime in from time to time to add to the mix.  Better yet!  Join my blog-talk radio show – LIVE web-radio -  any Sunday afternoon.  For the price of a 10 minute call, you might just win the lottery!  How?  We might just come up with something you’ll find WORTH improving your health, wealth or wisdom.

When you’re ready to join one of my Pay Me What I’m Worth study groups (a group that’ll increase your gratitude levels in many ways) click here!

In other posts through out this blog, we’ll explore all the other powerful key words related to these events.  These words provide a rock-solid easy stairway to walk into ALL your worth, in many forms.  Now, get busy and start sharing some comments!  We all have some powerful wisdom seeds inside.  Plant them here!  Water them for others as well by leaving comments to other people’s comments.

This series offers powerful ways to get to know what you’re worth in more ways than a penny, pound or peso.

Should you find yourself needing help discovering more things to be grateful for – explore this site. This site offers many donation-based programs to expand your ability to live in gratitude more easily than you may think!

ethics, gratitude, health, integrity, love, money, power, property, reputation, respect, time, wisdom, worth