Tag: Gratitude

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Happy Thanksgiving!

ThanksgivingImageWe need three positive emotions to balance out every negative one according to Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill. As a Pastor and Life Coach, I can’t help but believe that many people are living with a deficit. The good news is we don’t have to be stuck that way. We can “choose” good feelings.

I remember this principle coming home to me in a very real way when I traveled out to the remote village of Kakamega Kenya. When my friends and I got off the bus from Nairobi, we were greeted by enthusiastic children and adults. As two of us were white, we got special attention. Many of these children had never seen a white person before and were amazed as they looked at our skin. Continue reading “Happy Thanksgiving!”

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Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life – Part 2

looking-up-906888_1920Last time, we looked at three blockers that keep us from living happy successful lives. If you have not yet read part 1 or would like a review, you can find it here.

Today we look at four more ways that the gratitude we should experience in our lives gets stopped by our thoughts, words, emotions and actions.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life – Part 2”

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Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life – Part 1

prayer-1380214_1920Sometime around the first century BC, Cicero the Roman Consul is credited with saying, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” Nearly five centuries later, Saint Ambrose would add, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” As old as these quotes are, the art of thanksgiving is still much older. We see the practice all the way back in the very first book of the Bible.

A quick scan of scripture will quickly reveal the importance of thanksgiving to God, but like almost everything, what is important to Him is also very beneficial to us. Studies have shown that grateful people feel better about life, are more energetic, more successful, healthier, more generous, better thinkers, have better relationships and much more.

Most of us intuitively or experientially know that being thankful makes us better people, so why is it sometimes so difficult to put on an attitude of gratitude? If we listen closely, we will probably hear ourselves saying things to ourselves and others that is counter-productive to a heart of thanksgiving. Over the next two blogs, I will unveil seven blockers that turn what should be a thankful heart into a grumbling one.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life – Part 1”

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How’s Your Gratitude?

GratitudeHow’s your Gratitude? We can all use a tune-up from time-to-time, and even if you need a complete overhaul, God is more than willing to help.

Research Scientist Dr. Barbara Fredrickson studied the role of gratitude in our daily lives. It might not be surprising that she observed a direct correlation between Gratitude and Joy. It is easy to imagine that joyful people have a lot to be grateful for. What she actually discovered however, was more profound. She discovered that it was not joy that made people grateful, rather it was being grateful that led people to joy.

Continue reading “How’s Your Gratitude?”