As I become more acquainted with WordPress, my routine every day is to read pieces from the bloggers I follow. I started my blog to write on a daily basis. It did not dawn on me that I would wake up equally excited to read! Thank you all for inspiring me! 

Today I was inspired by  Dr. Perry  and his blog from April 22, 2018: “Is Gratitude Overrated?”

In Dr. Perry’s essay, he shares how some of his patients feel that finding gratitude in life is cliché.

When I read that, I immediately wondered what happened to these patients to cause them to question something so healing and life saving. But then I remembered how I once felt I had nothing to feel grateful for. Today, I know what practicing gratitude has done for me; I pray that doubters can find their way to living a life filled with gratitude.

Gratitude is an internal action for me. It is the conversation between my heart and soul.

Alcoholics Anonymous, a program of recovery from addiction, is where I learned to practice gratitude.  When I find myself experiencing negative self talk and self-pity, I dig out the gratitude. I am a mother with clinical depression and anxiety, chronic physical problems, and a survivor of sexual abuse. I also have 3 sons with clinical anxiety, 2 of whom have Autism. I am also a recovering alcoholic.  This program of recovery is a design for living. It taught me how “to gratitude” on a daily basis.  For the first 6 months or so, I found daily gratitude in making it to bedtime without picking up (a drink). That is how my gratitude practice started: from a tiny seed that spoke volumes to me. Sometimes I have to work at finding gratitude. Other times, it is as natural as breathing. On most days, I find myself finding gratitude in at least one thing.

Replacing negative conversations in my head, with gratitude conversations between my heart and soul, turned my life around in ways I never imagined possible.

Thank you, Dr. Perry, for reminding me that Gratitude is far from cliché. I am grateful I came across your post from last April! It has started my day on a beautiful note.

I would like to begin a blogging practice called “Inspiration Insights.” What blog post resonated with you today and how did it bring you to a place of gratitude? Once you find one, I invite you to share your reflections. Let’s spread Gratitude as an action.  If you participate , please ping your piece in the comments section. Refer to the post that resonated with you in your submittal and hashtag it: #InspirationInsights

Peace to all….

~S