{"id":150,"date":"2019-05-03T16:58:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T16:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?p=150"},"modified":"2019-05-03T16:58:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T16:58:22","slug":"gratitude-is-more-than-attitude-its-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/05\/gratitude-is-more-than-attitude-its-action.html","title":{"rendered":"Gratitude Is More Than Attitude \u2013 It’s Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered why you\u00a0keep getting more of what you don\u2019t<\/em> want in your life?<\/p>\n

One of the primary reasons for this is the way we think \u2013 the way our minds work. The human mind is a mismatch detector. It always notices what\u2019s wrong before it notices what\u2019s right.<\/strong> Consider a couple of examples:<\/p>\n

You walk into an art gallery and there are ten paintings hanging on the wall. Nine of them are straight and one is a little crooked. Where does you eye go? To the crooked painting \u2013 instantly. Your attention will be grabbed by what\u2019s wrong with the situation, not what\u2019s right with it.<\/p>\n

A personal example: I had a tooth pulled not too long ago, and I noticed that for many weeks after the tooth extraction, my tongue kept going to the gap between my molars where my tooth had been. It happened again and again, throughout the day. It was as if my tongue was \u201cworrying\u201d over the missing molar. Did my tongue pay any attention to the other 29 teeth that are fine? No. It just kept going back to the empty space.<\/p>\n

I already know<\/em> that my mind is a mismatch detector \u2013 I teach it\u00a0in my seminars. And yet, I couldn’t keep\u00a0from focusing on what was wrong in my mouth, rather than what was right. Knowing what my tongue was doing didn\u2019t stop me from doing it!<\/p>\n

My friend, Sam Beasley has a good antidote\u00a0for \u201cwhat\u2019s missing thinking.\u201d He calls it scheduled gratitude.<\/em> Here\u2019s how he taught it to me:<\/p>\n

Sam\u00a0asked: \u201cDo you like where you live?\u201d<\/p>\n

I said: \u201cI love<\/em> where I live!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam: \u201cGood. Then here\u2019s what you do: Every morning and every evening, for ten minutes or so, walk through your home and notice the things that you really love. An old quilt your mother made, a vase you inherited from your great-aunt, a piece of furniture you treasure, a room you love to spend time in, a piece of art, or whatever it is that you love. Touch these things, run your fingers over them, and say out loud, \u2018I love this; I\u2019d like more of this.\u2019 This is an act of active appreciation<\/em> in which you tell the universe, or God, or your higher power (whatever you call it) that you are deeply grateful for these things you love. You show appreciation and you ask for more. The universe is a giant YES machine \u2013 it will always send you more of what you pay attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam summarized: \u201cIf you don\u2019t like what you\u2019re getting in your life, change your prayer.<\/strong> How you live your life is a form of prayer; what you pay attention to is a form of prayer; what you express gratitude for is a form of prayer. If you want your life to be different, your prayer must be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cSchedule this time on your calendar, just as you would any appointment. Because if you don\u2019t schedule it, you\u2019ll start forgetting to do it. This is scheduled gratitude<\/em> \u2013 it’s active appreciation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been following Sam\u2019s instructions for some time now and it has made an enormous difference. I feel like a very rich person. I walk around happy almost all the time. I notice what\u2019s right<\/em> in my life. I give gratitude for my cats as I pet them. I am grateful for the beautiful view from the picture window in my living room as I stand there looking out. I give thanks and appreciation for my car, my garden, my fruit trees, and more. I celebrate what’s right with the world. I express gratitude\u00a0for my son, for good\u00a0friends, and for great neighbors. I am especially grateful for good health. And I give deepest thanks of all for the abundance of\u00a0love in my life.<\/p>\n

Sam taught me that gratitude is more than attitude \u2013 it\u2019s action. It’s active appreciation.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sam's<\/a>
Sam’s and BJ’s new book is “Your Life is Your Prayer” (Mango Publishing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered why you\u00a0keep getting more of what you don\u2019t want in your life? One of the primary reasons for this is the way we think \u2013 the way our minds work. The human mind is a mismatch detector. It always notices what\u2019s wrong before it notices what\u2019s right. Consider a couple of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[152,151,153,24,20,126],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-active-appreciation","tag-active-gratitude","tag-give-thanks","tag-gratitude","tag-prayer","tag-your-life-is-your-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nGratitude Is More Than Attitude \u2013 It's Action - The Power of Positive Doing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is an act of active appreciation in which you tell the universe ... that you are deeply grateful for these things you love ... and you ask for more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gratitude Is More Than Attitude \u2013 It's Action - 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She writes business books that educate and empower, women\u2019s books that enlighten and entertain, and gift books that inspire and inform. Whether her audience is corporate executives, working women, or a group of college student, her message is powerful, positive, as well as practical. She motivates and teaches with empathy, understanding, and more than a little humor. BJ\u2019s international best-seller, \"A Peacock in the Land of Penguins\" (Berrett-Koehler; third edition 2001), is now in 23 languages and has sold over 400,000 copies. Her recent books include: \"The Power of Positive DOING\" (Simple Truths) and \"If God Is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats\" (Hampton Roads). Her new book, \"Your Life Is Your Prayer\" (Mango Publishing) will be out in April 2019. BJ and her books have been featured on CBS Evening News, the Today show, Fox News, PBS, CNN, and other television and radio programs. She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women\u2019s magazines, and websites including O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Woman\u2019s World, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and MSNBC.com, among others. BJ also conducts seminars and workshops. Her clients include: IBM, Chevron, Nissan, John Deere Credit Canada, Volkswagen, Farm Credit Services of America, Raytheon, Marathon Realty (Canada), U.S. Department of Interior, Veterans Administration, among others. 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