It's easy to be grateful for the good things that happen. That's automatic.
But if we want real progress in our lives, we don't get to stop there.
We are where we are, loaded with possibilities, because of everything that has happened to us - not just the events that look positive on the surface. Losing our jobs freed us up for the better ones. The despair of crushing debt forced us to learn how to handle wealth, which must happen before we are entrusted with it.
All of these things helped make us who we are, and taught us what we needed to know to move forward. We didn't learn to multiply before we learned to add. We don't reach the next step till we've understood the last one. We must be grateful that we've had the chance to gain that understanding.
Beyond that, we need to give thanks for what's going to happen. In Prosperity, Charles Fillmore says, "Praise and thanksgiving impart the quickening spiritual power that produces growth and increase in all things." In The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles writes, "Gratitude unifies the minds of individuals with the intelligence of substance, so that a person's thoughts are received by the formless."
Why is this important, giving thanks for what hasn't even happened yet? We know that our thoughts ultimately shape our reality. But it's not just any thoughts. It's those that are backed by emotion and expectation.
These two authors explain that it's our gratitude that ties our thoughts to the divine mind and positions us to see our visions come true. Giving thanks for what hasn't yet occurred demonstrates our faith that it will. And every time we express those thanks, we solidify our faith. Which increases our expectation...such a circle we create!
As Wattles puts it, "The exercise of gratitude will never fail to strengthen your faith and renew your purpose." We know that for our dreams to become reality, we must believe that it will be so. Giving thanks that those dreams have been realized cannot help but intensify that belief, which in turn increases the likelihood of seeing our new reality.
But if we want real progress in our lives, we don't get to stop there.
We are where we are, loaded with possibilities, because of everything that has happened to us - not just the events that look positive on the surface. Losing our jobs freed us up for the better ones. The despair of crushing debt forced us to learn how to handle wealth, which must happen before we are entrusted with it.
All of these things helped make us who we are, and taught us what we needed to know to move forward. We didn't learn to multiply before we learned to add. We don't reach the next step till we've understood the last one. We must be grateful that we've had the chance to gain that understanding.
Beyond that, we need to give thanks for what's going to happen. In Prosperity, Charles Fillmore says, "Praise and thanksgiving impart the quickening spiritual power that produces growth and increase in all things." In The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles writes, "Gratitude unifies the minds of individuals with the intelligence of substance, so that a person's thoughts are received by the formless."
Why is this important, giving thanks for what hasn't even happened yet? We know that our thoughts ultimately shape our reality. But it's not just any thoughts. It's those that are backed by emotion and expectation.
These two authors explain that it's our gratitude that ties our thoughts to the divine mind and positions us to see our visions come true. Giving thanks for what hasn't yet occurred demonstrates our faith that it will. And every time we express those thanks, we solidify our faith. Which increases our expectation...such a circle we create!
As Wattles puts it, "The exercise of gratitude will never fail to strengthen your faith and renew your purpose." We know that for our dreams to become reality, we must believe that it will be so. Giving thanks that those dreams have been realized cannot help but intensify that belief, which in turn increases the likelihood of seeing our new reality.
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