Living a Life of Gratitude

By James Templeton

The greatest source of happiness is the ability to be grateful at all times. – Zig Ziglar

It is a great day to be alive! I am often overwhelmed with gratitude that my journey through Stage IV cancer ended with life and health, not an early passing. In my healing journey, I’ve learned gratitude and a positive attitude have great healing power. Read on to find out how to live a life of gratitude!

Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

One of the best weapons against worry, doubt and depression is gratitude. It truly is always a great day to be alive when you’ve stared death in the face and won. It’s hard to be discouraged when you are counting all the blessings in your life.

Gratitude is a very powerful force that we can use for long-lasting happiness and better overall health. Practice gratitude especially when you don’t feel like it, when it feels like all of life is against you, nothing is going your way, and when you feel like things will never get better. That’s when you need it the most.

I understand sometimes it’s hard to think of even one thing to be grateful for, but it’s important. That’s how you pull yourself up out of the hole that worry, depression and doubt help you dig. We attract into our lives the things we think about and focus on.

You can make a list of things you’re grateful for or things you like about yourself, or write a thank you note or letter to thank someone who has been good to you or even changed your life. No matter what is going on in your life, there is always something to be grateful for.

Turn Your Negative into a Positive

Negativity is not good for your health. Most of us are aware of the impact stress can have on your health, but did you know feeling helpless and hopeless can create a stress on your body that disrupts hormone balance, damages the immune system and depletes your body of the brain chemicals it needs for happiness?

I find regret comes when I’m looking back instead of looking ahead. Even when I was my sickest and couldn’t do much more than lie in a hospital bed, I stayed positive, it was part of my fight. I visualized my healing and kept a vision for how I wanted to live my life. To this day, I set goals that keep me challenged and looking forward. Each time I reach one I set another. Having a goal keeps me focused on where I can go and what I need to do. I don’t have time to be negative and have a pity party.

Your Words Have Power

Masuru Emoto was a Japanese researcher who studied pure distilled water crystals to see the effect words, pictures, music and praying have on water. He believed the standard we all have in common is a deep desire for beauty. When you speak something that resonates with your body, it creates a beautiful design in the water crystals. Beautiful designs come from speaking your blessings. A non-resonating vibration, like hate, results in destructive energy and the crystals form a chaotic pattern instead of a beautiful one.

Think about this. Roughly two-thirds of your body is water. So the way you speak, the pictures you look at, the music you listen to, and what you pray all change the composition of the water in your body. In Emoto’s studies, the most beautiful crystal formation came from speaking the word “gratitude” over the water. Speak life and health into your body every day!

The world we live in makes it a challenge to be happy. We have 24/7 access to news and world events, and the majority of what they report is negative, and even scary. It’s not just the news, that’s only one example of the negativity that surrounds us. It’s the constant media message that who you are and what you have is never enough.

Then there’s your self-talk. The negativity inside of us is so strong, I’m willing to bet if anyone talked to you the way you talk to you, you wouldn’t want that person in your life. I certainly wouldn’t have let anyone treat me the way I treated me back when I was living the unhealthy lifestyle I chose before I got sick with cancer.

It’s time to turn it around. Practice gratitude, choose to be positive and speak life into your health and body. I believe these are key elements of a healthy lifestyle.