Be Grateful for the Things You Have and Give Thanks

5. Be grateful for the things you have and give thanks.

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. I believe it was the glam rock hair band of the 1990s, Cinderella, that made a hit song out of that quote. What this Tool truly does is remind us of the things we take for granted daily. Our health, shelter and food, these are things we expect to be automatic. Therefore we never take the time to be grateful for them. As we grow accustomed to all the luxuries around us, like clean running water, the ability to purchase food 24 hours a day, or the ability to watch 500 channels on TV, we come to forget about all the things we have. What we do instead is focus on all the things we don’t have. Just by sheer mathematics there will always be more things you don’t have than you do have. The key point is that even if you have more things, they are still just things; you are not going to take a moving truck to your funeral.

When you start to use this Tool, start to be aware of all that you do have. Begin to take a mental inventory. If you want to take it to another level, write down all the things that you do have; a job, family, electricity, a car, etc., etc. When you begin to go back to being grateful about the things you have, you will learn to appreciate these simple things more. You will also notice how people constantly talk about what they don’t have. When you focus on what you don’t have, you get more of what you don’t have. When you are grateful for the things you do have, you will get more things. What I notice most commonly is that the people who don’t have a lot are very grateful for what they do have. These people also take notice that many who have the most have no clue. Just your freedom to own a car, look at the internet or even vote are luxuries many would die to have and often do give their lives to have.

The final key to this Tool is that it is not just enough to acknowledge the things you have. That is the first step in using this Tool. The next part is the ritual of giving thanks for what you have. Many ask, who do I give thanks to? It can be God, a higher power or even the universe, it doesn’t matter. Successful people know that this two-part ritual is the key. Many of us would do this in the form of prayer when we were kids. We would kneel before our bed every night to pray and give thanks. Many families would say grace before dinner at night, giving thanks for the food they were about to eat. We have gotten away from that. These are just examples, you give thanks the way you feel it appropriate and to whom you feel comfortable. When you do these two things, be thankful and give thanks, you will notice your level of happiness going up. You will notice that you have shifted your primary focus from lack to abundance, in turn reaping more abundance. When you use this Tool, you may feel a little silly that you didn’t realize how fortunate you really are, and others around you will notice the change as well.