Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 174 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

7 Ways to Boost Your Gratitude

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 174 of our Trek, and yesterday we hiked on the trails of unleashing gratitude in your life. Today as we hike on our trail, we will search for the 7-mile markers to boost your gratitude. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. By the time this episode is released, we will be back at The Big House for a couple of weeks. In addition to a smaller family Thanksgiving celebration, we will be headlong in the leaf harvest. Most of the leaves have fallen, and the ground is covered quite thick with leaves. With about three acres of open area to collect from, that is a lot of leaves. On Wednesday this past week, we were able to spend an evening out with my sister Rebecca, which is one of the monthly blessings that I look forward to as we always enjoy the time reminiscing and sharing God’s blessings in our lives. Rebecca is a marvelous piano player, and as I approached her door to let her know we had arrived, the beautiful playing of the old hymn “Count Your Blessings” was flowing from her fingertips. One of the best ways to boost your gratitude is to count your blessings and name them one by one. It is then you will see that your life is full.

So let’s get started on our trek in our exploration for the…

7 Mile Markers to Boost Your Gratitude

It is the season to be grateful. After all, the dictionary defines the word “thanksgiving” as "the expression of gratitude."

Gratitude refers to feeling thankfulness and appreciation for people, places, and events. An attitude of gratitude can really change your life. As Willie Nelson once said, "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."

How do you boost your attitude of gratitude?

Okay, I will admit, there are times when we just don’t feel very thankful. Sometimes life deals us a bad hand, which may be completely out of our control. But how we play that hand is what counts. Let’s hike our trail today and look for the seven mile markers to help you boost your gratitude. I will let you in on a little secret here…Most of these take very little time and absolutely no money! I want to challenge you to make a point to try any one (or more) of these today to improve your attitude of gratitude.

1. Say thank you more frequently.

Thank everyone around you, from the people who serve you or those who simply exist in your life. No need to wait until someone does something huge for you. Just the mere fact that your spouse or friend is in your life can warrant a "thank you."

More than just saying it, it is also important that you really feel it. President John F. Kennedy put it this way, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them."

We focus so much on saying "thank you," in our society (especially with children) that sometimes we don't make the connection between the words and the genuine, heartfelt gratitude they should convey. Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful reminder for all of us to take some time to thank the people in our lives for all those intangible gifts they give us every day – gifts of compassion, friendship, laughter, support, and love. So much to be thankful for!

Make sure when you do thank someone you also experience the sense of appreciation for them.

2. Be present.

Many of us are well versed at juggling dozens of different thought...