Being Grateful for Gratitude by Meghan Genge

“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I have been spending the past two months practicing gratitude. Every night before I go to bed, I make a list of five things for which I am grateful. I have been told that this makes magic.

So far? Nothing.

Or so it would seem. You see, this gratitude practice has made me face the fact that I am a very impatient woman. I want results, magic, details, answers and information NOW. If I don't lose five pounds immediately, I quit the diet. If I don't get praise, I don't do it again. If my life doesn't suddenly change to reflect changes I've made, they obviously aren't working.

This isn't the case with gratitude.

After the first week I realized that despite there being no gratitude fireworks, I was still making my lists every night and when I packed my gratitude diary at the very top of my suitcase on a recent trip, I realized that this little book had become strangely important to me. The simple act of making a list has somehow snuck through my instant impact monitoring system and firmly become a practice.

Is it easy to make a list of five things I am grateful for? Sadly, not every night. (I won't let myself write the same thing more than once a week!) But I have found that I have started looking for things during the day. I've started noticing dear souls and kind strangers. I've started noting when I taste something delicious, or see something beautiful. I have stopped to smell the blooms on the bush at the end of the path to my house every day this week.

Tonight's list?

I think that number one will be the book itself. Tonight I will be grateful for gratitude.

Megg is a writer, a seeker, and a finder of magic.