It has been said that it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit.
I want to get into the habit of gratitude.
In North America, we suffer from the disease of entitlement. We feel that we are owed a comfortable life, a good income, nice clothes, clean water, a free education…the list goes on…but the reality is,
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~Albert Einstein
I have to admit that I live too much with the attitude of the former. Brené Brown wrote,
“What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.”
But gratitude is so much more that not feeling entitled to the life we think we deserve or seeing everything in life as an ordinary miracle. It is a paradigm shift that alters the deepest part of our being.
“Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle.”
~Ann Voskamp
The garden of my heart is in a terrible state of ingratitude and it keeps me from acknowledging the blessings, living in the present and having the peace that comes from knowing I am not being denied what I believe I am entitled to but am abundantly rich with what I have been given – the people, the experiences, the life. In the next 66 days, I will endeavour to cultivate gratitude. It will take time, it will take care, it will take patience along with frustration and it will take a lot of God’s help to grow this little seed into an attitude that is embedded into every fibre of my being.
I challenge you to join with me – 66 days of cultivating gratitude. Goodness knows I will need some accountability. Like any new habit, I know it won’t come easy and there will be days when I will need to dig deeper than ever before to find true gratefulness but I believe the challenge will be worth it in the end. I believe that, should I be successful in cultivating my own attitude of gratitude not only will I live more contently, peacefully and abundantly but the fruit will fall on those around me.
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”
~Thomas Merton
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