The Power of Gratitude

When my older son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, my first reaction was relief - I finally knew the reason for his behavior. However, I was also overwhelmed with sadness, fear and anger. I felt sorry for my son and for myself. Like many others in similar circumstances, my question to God was "Why me?"

Through the grace of God, I am now able to focus on my gratitude. I believe God chose me to raise my son because He knew that I would give him the best I have. He will teach me to love and understand him for who he is. I am grateful that I have my son, and grateful that God chose me to be his mother.

There is power and healing in gratitude.

How can gratitude help us in our everyday lives as moms? Think about the difference you can make in your family’s life just by noticing and being thankful for all the great things they do. When you express gratitude, you show your love and appreciation. Everyone needs to feel these things every day. Sometimes as moms we feel that no one appreciates us - and it is true that moms are usually last on the list to be thanked. One way you can teach gratitude is by example. Even on the days when it seems your children or husband are doing everything wrong, find a reason to thank them. Take the time and energy to look for the good. Think about the things that your family does that deserve a “Thank you.” You might say to your husband, “Thank you for working so hard for our family," or, to your child, “I really appreciate your sense of humor - it feels good to laugh.” Expressing your gratitude helps family members to understand how it feels to be appreciated. And if they still don’t catch on, let them know when you feel unappreciated. You can also tell them how great it makes you feel when they do express gratitude.

Gratitude is a wonderful motivator when you need cooperation. When enlisting the help of my two year old, I praise him often and with enthusiasm. I let him know that he is a great helper. I know I am teaching him appreciation because he expresses it to me. The other day I brought a bunch of multi-colored roses home. For five days, at least once or twice a day, my son thanked me for the flowers.

Sometimes we get so busy and caught up in daily life that we forget to be grateful. We expect everyone to do their share without being asked. The only time anyone hears anything is when a chore has not been completed. This attitude, over the long haul, will develop very resentful and uncooperative family members.

When life is good, gratitude is easy. It becomes more challenging to be grateful when we are experiencing hard times. Financial hardship, long-term illness, the death of a loved one and marital strife can all be trying and difficult. It is hard to find anything to be grateful for. But while pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We have a choice in how we view our circumstances. We can turn our hearts to God and trust that he has a plan for us. We can be thankful for the lessons we learn and the opportunities for personal growth and transformation. Look at all the people in this world who share the gifts they received during especially difficult times of their life. It is the painful times of my life that have made me stronger, wiser, and more loving today.

I recently attended a powerful seminar on the various levels of energy that a human being emanates. The presenter identified seven different levels of energy. The first level of energy is defined by feelings of apathy and thoughts of victimization. A person at a level two energy has feelings of anger and thoughts of conflict. As a person moves up the energy scale, their feelings and thoughts are more positive. At level seven, one would experience unconditional love and no judgmental thoughts. Only God radiates at level seven. The average person emits energy at a level of 2.5. To experience peace and joy, an in- dividual must raise his energy level to 5 or 6.

So how can we raise our energy level and open our heart to joy? One powerful way is to develop an attitude of gratitude. Look at every- one with grateful eyes. Listen to your heart and the heart of your loved ones. Speak words of affirmation every day of your life. Be grateful for your life with all its lessons and blessings. The more grateful thoughts and feelings you experience and express the more instrumental you will be in healing the world. And your outlook on life will improve in the process.

當我的大兒子被確診為“注意缺陷多動障礙”時，我的第一反應就是放松――我終于知道他那些行為舉止的原因所在了。然而，我也陷入了悲傷、畏懼和憤怒的深淵。我既為兒子也為我自己感到難過。像其他很多處于相似境況的人一樣，我也禁不住要問上帝：“為什么是我?”

由于上帝的恩惠，我現在可以把心思集中在感恩上了。我相信，上帝選擇我來養育我的兒子是因為他相信我會把我最好的東西給予兒子。上帝教導我去愛、去理解兒子的一切。我很感激上帝選擇我作兒子的母親。

這是感恩的力量和療傷作用。

作為母親，感恩在日常生活中又能如何幫助我們呢?通過注意和感謝家人所做的一切偉大的事情，想想你能為家庭生活帶來什么變化。當你表示感恩的時候，就展現出了你的愛心和感激。每個人每天都需要這些感受。作為母親，有時候會感到沒有人感激我們――事實上也是如此，母親總是最后一個被感謝的人。你傳授感恩的一個方法就是自己樹立榜樣。即便有一天你的孩子和丈夫把所有的事情都搞錯了，你也要找個理由感謝他們，花些時間和精力，尋找好的地方。想想你的家人所做的事情，哪些值得你說一句“謝謝”。你可以對丈夫說一句：“謝謝你為我們的家努力工作，”或者對孩子說：“我非常欣賞你的幽默感――笑笑真好。”表達你的感激會幫助你的家人理解收到感激的心情。如果他們還是無法領悟，那就在你需要感激的時候告訴他們。你也可以告訴他們，當他們向你表達感激時你的感受。

在你需要合作的時候，感激之情就是一股巨大的推動力。當我獲得我2歲兒子的幫助時，我經常滿懷激情地表揚他。我要讓他知道他幫了我很大的忙。我知道，因為他要感激我，所以我就要教他學會感激。幾天前，我帶回家一束顏色各異的玫瑰花，一連五天，他幾乎每天都要說幾次謝謝。

有時，我們過于繁忙，忙于蕪雜的生活瑣事，連感激都忘記了。我們期望每個人都能夠自覺地盡職盡責，在這個時間每個人所能聽到的就是做完活。這種態度，日積月累，在家人之間就會發展為抱怨和不和。

生活安穩的時候，表達感激就會很簡單。但是，當我們面對艱辛的生活時，表達感激就很難了。經濟困難，長期疾病，親人過世和婚姻糾紛這些都可能讓人心煩，給生活帶來困難。這時候，甚至連找一個感激的理由都很難。雖然痛苦無法避免，但我們有權選擇是否接受痛苦，有權選擇我們該如何看待我們周圍的環境。我們可以相信上帝，相信上帝會給我們做好安排的。我們感激經驗教訓，感激給個人成長和變化的機遇。看看大千世界中的蕓蕓眾生，他們在生活的艱難中獲得了禮物。正是生活中的那些痛苦時期讓我更加堅強，更加聰明，更加熱愛今天!

最近，我參加了一個很有影響的研討班，討論的主題是人類產生的多級能量。與會者把能量分成7級。第一級能量是根據冷漠的感情和犧牲他人的思想而定義的;第二級能量的人懷有憤怒的感情和對抗的思想;人的能量級別越高，他的感情和思想也就更加積極。在第七級別，人就會獲得自由的愛和辨證的思想。只有上帝才能達到第七級。人類平均擁有的能量級別為2.5。要想擁有和平和歡樂，個人的能量級別必須達到5或6。

那么我們該如何提高我們的能量級別呢?如何敞開胸懷擁抱歡樂呢?一個有效的方法就是養成感激的態度?？聪履切└屑さ难凵?，聆聽你的內心和你所愛的人的內心，每天說些肯定的話，感激你的生命所擁有的教訓和祝福。你擁有的感激的思想和感情越多，你對社會的作用就越大，你對生命的見解也會更深。