My theme for today was without a doubt, ‘gratitude.’ I was kind of thinking a “Gratitude Thursday” type of thing but after today, gratitude should be an every day kind of thing. I believe, or at least I like to believe that I have always been a grateful person for the big things in life; my wife, daughter, soon to arrive son and family. I know I haven’t been grateful for the little things however.
Let me tell you, it made a huge difference in my day! I’m not even good at it yet and like all things, with practice it comes more natural. I really had to work to be grateful on all things. I often found myself slipping out of gratitude and letting the little things start to bother me. I am very excited to see how my days are when being grateful becomes more natural for me.
My morning started off a little rough. I found myself being short on temper. I had some little things that are out of my control on my mind from the day before which had me in a funk. I had heard before and a lot lately how powerful simply being grateful for everything is. A mind that is truly in a state of gratitude is a powerful mind. A clear and focused mind. A creative mind. Naturally, I was skeptical and didn’t feel that my days would be better and more positive by simply being grateful for all things in my day. I decided today was the day to test that out.
At the office I didn’t let little things that normally distract me have any impact today. I was grateful for them, grateful for being around incredible colleagues that help to improve the positive vibes in the office. I was grateful for my clients and the opportunity to work with them. I honestly didn’t have any issues come up today such as late payments or late shipments missing dock dates; even if they did arise, I would have been grateful for the opportunity to face the challenge.
There wasn’t anything special about work day today, no big deals or new clients, but it was a great day. The time seemed to flow smoothly by and my smiles were effortless.
I’ll be the first to tell you, nothing gets me fuming more than traffic around here. I tend to honk a lot, when drivers are flying up a lane that ends to cut in front of as many others as they can, I won’t let them in. I try to be courteous (traffic would be much better if we were all courteous on the road) but it doesn’t always happen.
Gratitude does not come naturally to me yet. I have to make a conscious effort to be grateful. My commute home did not start out in gratitude. Traffic was backed up tremendously. My phone showed a hour and a half drive to make it the 12 miles home. I tried a different route which wasn’t any better. I got to the bridge which was backed up it’s entire length. I was not being grateful and I was starting to recognize it.
About half way across the bridge while I was sitting there, I happened to look over across the bay. It hit me right then; I was not being grateful and I was letting little things suck the joy from my day. I found myself being grateful for the view of the bay (which happens to be much better while you’re stuck in traffic and not moving). I was grateful to be on my way home to see my girls and pups. I was grateful for the great day. The joy was flowing back. The clarity was returning to my mind.
I’m sure you’ve been told to just be grateful a some point in your life. You may have even heard how powerful gratitude is and how it will positively impact you. Most of you were probably just like me and thought it to be malarkey! It works! I’m only one day in so I’ll keep you posted but today was great! Tomorrow will be great too.
Life is busy and full of twists, turns, unexpected obstacles and stress. It is so easy to get caught up in that and let the joy fade from your days. Step back, breath, and take it all in. It’s a great day, sometime you just need to remember that.
You can find me on Twitter @MackWP. I’m excited to see you there! I am working on getting the other platforms set up to reflect the website as well and will keep you posted.
Until next time pack, keep smiling.
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