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Gratitude is an Action Word
Submitted by: Heather H (Hsquared)
Minneapolis, MNI am a single mother, safety manager, chi healer, and overall great person (and I am funny, too). I was introduced to The Secret in the summer of 2007 by a psychic friend of mine who has supported my development of my healing energy and empathic skills. I had used The Secret all my life but had never labeled it or honed the practice of using it until the production was broadcast. It is life changing. I still watch the DVD every time I need a boost.
I remember when I first watched The Secret. I was so excited about it. I had for years believed that a person is only limited by what they perceive their limitations to be.
The segment about Gratitude was especially powerful for me, but I struggled with it at the same time. Many of the concepts in The Secret deal with feeling the feeling of joy, happiness, and gratitude. Well, how does one feel… exactly? My logical brain was hindering my ability to grasp this concept. I had always been a charitable person, my friends accuse me of being a tender heart all the time, so why could I not grasp “feeling” gratitude?
I was thankful for all of the joys in my life, I had a roof over my head, a decent car, a healthy child, a plethora of devoted and caring friends, a wonderful, loving, and healthy family, a great job, and on an on. I really did appreciate all of these wonderful things, but it wasn’t until after I watched The Secret that the light bulb came on.
The segment about the gratitude rock made something click in my head. Lee Brower told the story of his friend and his sick child and I realized that its not enough, not powerful enough, to just BE thankful. You also need to get yourself into a state of being where everything that you are grateful for means more to you than anything else in the world, material or otherwise. The best way for me to do that is to help others.
It’s hard to not FEEL grateful for your home when you are helping a homeless family build a home of their own. It’s hard to not FEEL grateful serving a man who hasn’t eaten in 3 days when I know I could easily walk down the street and eat a meal at any restaurant. It’s hard to not FEEL grateful when you sit down with the homeless woman on the street corner who is begging for money and talk to her like a human being for the first time in a long time. Helping someone else doesn’t make me feel superior or elitist, it helps me FEEL grateful for the job that affords me a home, and a meal, and the ability to sleep in a warm bed at night. It helps me FEEL grateful for the friends and family that I have who care about me and would take care of me if need be.
Helping another human being, even in small ways, gets me into a feeling of gratitude no other method can match. The “high” I get from that can last long after the act is done. I can feel good all day after, like the way your metabolism keeps racing long after you’re done exercising. When I’m in that zone I focus on those things that I’d like to do, or see, or have, or share.
Since discovering this “technique”, I have gotten a promotion at work into my dream career field, found my dream home (and I’m working on purchasing it), and improved my overall health – my asthma is virtually non-existent right now. My relationships with my daughter and the rest of my family have improved and it helps me want to give back even more.
I know (“like I know like I know”) all the things I want in my life are coming to me, and The Secret helped me to discover that. Gratitude is an action word and requires some work on my part. Giving back to others helps me get into the “Attitude of Gratitude”. I hope this has helped someone or at the very least been pleasing to read.