Y’all want to hear about a big breakthrough I’ve recently had? C’mon, you know you do. Whatddya say?
Perhaps I should explain what a breakthrough is. A breakthrough is a new way of being. That’s it. It’s the ultimate “ah-ha” moment. A new knowing, if you will.
Here’s the breakthrough: your world will open up to new possibilities and new ways of being if you have an attitude of gratitude.
So often I believe that gratitude can be a platitude. Technically, it’s more like a cliché. But I prefer the word platitude since it rhymes.
A lot of us treat the question “what are you grateful for” as simply a prelude to carving the thanksgiving turkey. We may say we’re grateful for friends and family, but are we really?
The summer of 2009 was awfully scary for me. I was just a few months removed from my mother’s passing, I had recently been denied for a promotion for which I was eminently qualified, and I had the worst health crisis of my life.
Here’s how it all went down.
Think about it. What do you have in your life that you can truly be grateful for?
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I’d just seen a movie one Sunday night in July. The movie isn’t important, but when I was coming home I became violently sick (and I’ll leave that to your imagination, dear reader.) I felt like I’d swallowed a golf ball and it was stuck right under my right ribs. I had to go to the ER at eleven at night. We couldn’t really determine anything at the time.
Two days later I went back to my doctor and they ordered me back to the ER. And after a bunch of tests were run, they found my gallbladder had to go.
Usually, gallbladder surgery is a simple deal. Not this time.
My gallbladder had somehow developed gangrene and had ruptured. My white blood cell count was off the charts. I’m lucky to be alive. In fact, my doctor told me the mortality rate on what I had is in the neighborhood of 65%.
I now have a ten-inch scar on my belly to remind me how fortunate I am to be alive.
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Your kids may drive you crazy. Your significant other may drive you nuts. You may hate your job. Or you may be living in a place where you don’t have much connection.
Let’s face it, life may suck.
But does it?
- Are you alive?
- Are you healthy?
- Are you loved?
- Are your kids healthy and loved?
- Do you love and are in love with your significant other?
- Do you have a job?
- Do you have a roof over your head?
- Is there food on your plate?
- Do you drink clean water?
Think about it. What do you have in your life that you can truly be grateful for?
And it doesn’t have to be the good in your life. You can be grateful for something that may be considered bad.
You know that employer that didn’t give me the promotion I was supremely qualified for? Yeah, they fired me a couple years later.
This was a kick in the gut at the time. I was out of work for a long time. But looking back on it, it was a blessing.
- I was able to write my book.
- I found coaching.
- And I was able to discover my true purpose, which wasn’t getting people to pay past due cell phone bills. That’s for certain.
Gratitude has supported me in opening up a world of love in my heart. This attitude of gratitude has made me a better man. And if you let it, it can make you a better person as well.
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Gratitude has supported me in opening up a world of love in my heart. This attitude of gratitude has made me a better man. And if you let it, it can make you a better person as well.
I have spots open in my coaching practice, but they’re going fast. Let’s do a free sample coaching session and see how coaching can help set your world on fire. Connect with me at [email protected]. Visit my website at team-ryan.team. Or you can follow me on twitter at twitter.com/ryanhallwrites.
To close: in my opinion, Earth, Wind, and Fire’s best album is 1975’s Gratitude. It’s primarily a live concert album, but there are a few original studio recordings.
There’s a great line from the title track that sums up just how important gratitude really is.
“We just wanna give gratitude. Got plenty love, wanna give to you.”
That’s all gratitude is. It’s love. And we all need a lot more love in our lives.
Photo by John Hain