"A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles!"
In this blog, I want to share how to remain grateful amidst chaos and challenges in life.
One morning, my husband drove me to work. He turned the radio on. We heard this woman, a caller of that station. She shared how grateful she was because, after 15 years of battling cancer, she finally can celebrate Christmas, cancer free!
Indeed that is something that needs to be celebrated! I imagine that person's heart must be filled with so much joy and gratitude!
I say a silent prayer for her, asking God that she will continue to be cancer-free for the rest of her life. She deserves it after all her struggles.
Then, after the woman expressed her words of gratitude, the host mentioned celebrating the Holiday season. Still, for many, it is hard to celebrate the Holidays this year.
Maybe you are one of those who don't feel like celebrating Christmas. I can't blame you. I personally feel the gloom in the air because of COVID-19. This pandemic has changed so much of our lives. We did not see it coming. We are not prepared for it.
Many people lose their jobs, businesses, and other income sources. People isolated themselves because of social distancing. Some people are afraid to go out and even interact with people for fear of catching the virus. The worst thing, a lot of people lose their lives from this virus. Many people lose their loved ones this year. On top of this, politics heighten the already stressful situation for many people. There is uncertainty in the air.
Christmas is the season of giving, the season of gratitude. The season when we are counting our blessings and be grateful for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Reason for the Season.
But maybe for you, you feel like no blessings to count. Perhaps you lost your job, your loved ones, you are sick, or you feel so much stress right now, and you think there is no way out for you.
I understand.
How can you be grateful in an environment where it seems like no hope?
Try this exercise.
When you feel like nothing to be thankful for, try to close your eyes, tap into your inner depths, and experience that peace that is within you.
With your eyes close, try to think of that one thing that makes you happy this year. No matter how small it is. Take a picture of it in your mind. Then, expand that image, make it big, and make it clear.
Feel the joy that you feel at that time. Hold that feeling and then say words of gratitude for everything or the person that you see in that picture. Savor that joy that you feel at that particular time.
You can open your eyes when you are ready or add more images of the things that make you happy and go on with the exercise.
This exercise will open up your energy to gratitude. When you do this, other things will start to show up for you, which gives you joy this year. Then, you will realize that there are so many things that you can be grateful for regardless of whatever challenges that you encounter this year.
When our hearts are grateful, we will open our energy to those things we are thankful for, and we will receive more of it.
"A grateful is a magnet for miracles."
I know that humans as we are, we are conditioned to think negatively and think of our unhappy experiences. I get that that is how our ancestors survive in the wild. Anticipate the worst so you can better prepare for it. There is no problem with thinking of the misery that we encountered to better prepare for it when we meet similar things, but if we dwell on it, that is what we attract more.
What we focus on will expand.
If we focus on the things that we are grateful for, the more we will get it.
What are the Benefits of having a Grateful Heart?
1. A grateful heart will help enhance your relationships with yourself, to others, and to your God.
When you are full of gratitude, you acknowledge the help of other people in your life.
If you are a believer of something higher than you, you recognize the hands of the
divine that guides you through the ups and low of your life. A grateful heart can also
help you see your giftedness, your talents, and skills that help you rise up from your
mess or struggle. Being grateful makes you want to develop better relationships with those who help you.
2. A grateful heart will reduce stress and anxiety.
When you are thankful, your body will release the feel-good hormones in your body. The more grateful you are, the more feel-good hormones are released in your body. The excellent news is Stress and anxiety cannot co-exist in a heart that feels so good and joyful.
3. A grateful heart will improve your physical health. When you are thankful for the people around you and thankful for your life's blessings, the more you want to take care of yourself.
Christmas Season is one of my favorite seasons. I am so grateful for this year because of the gift of Jesus Christ. I am grateful because we remember God became the least of us on Christmas day- A helpless Child in a Manger. Later betrayed by His friends, Crucified on the Cross for our Salvation.
The Christmas message is LOVE. Love cannot or difficult to exist when there is no gratitude in our hearts.
There is so much to be grateful for if you open your eyes to see the beauty in everything we experience in life. If we TRUST that everything that happens to us has a reason and a purpose.
I want to leave you a verse that inspires me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
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