Want to be Grateful for Gratitude?

Want to be Grateful for Gratitude? Let these 5 quotes inspire you.

#1 …More Than Enough

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

—Melody Beattie

Never heard of Melody Beattie? She is a prolific self-help writer. In 2009, Newsweek named her book, Codependent No More, one of the four most essential self-help books of all time. Her ideas on gratitude are powerful. I hope her main theme in this quote can bring as much into your life as it does into mine. I especially like the sentence of this quote above:

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

So often we find ourselves working to have more and end up feeling dissatisfied. During this RosieCentral Gratitude Month, maybe you’ll discover that “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

#2 Grateful for Items You Have

“Have gratitude for the things you’re discarding. By giving gratitude, you’re giving closure to the relationship with that object, and by doing so, it becomes a lot easier to let go.” - Marie Kondo

You’ve probably heard of Marie Kondo. I’ve written about her before on RosieCentral. She’s a popular figure known as the unclutter and declutter guru.

She changed her perspective of finding reasons to discard items to finding reasons to keep items. Specifically, she notes: If something brings you joy, keep it! In her business she understands the value of finding gratitude in one’s life.

How will you find gratitude in your life? What brings you joy? And be sure to go beyond items and things. Consider the people, the work, the place. What brings you joy? Keep it and do more of it!

#3: Watch Where You Focus

“When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.”

– Kristin Armstrong

If you follow women’s cycling, then you may know about Kristin Armstrong. She is a former professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic medalist—the winner of the women’s individual time trial in 2008, 2012, and 2016. She has gone into retirement several times but always returns. She lives her life striving for major achievements but also focusing on gratitude.

Can gratitude help you face and overcome disappointments? Everyone experiences disappointments in their lives. Consider if expressing gratitude at the time of disappointments may help open you to new, positive experiences.

#4: Be Grateful

“Live simply. Dream big. Be grateful. Give love. Laugh lots.”

– Unknown

When working with quotes, I try to use as few authored by “Unknown” and “Anonymous” as possible. Why? I like knowing the name and background of the person as that helps me to understand the circumstances under which she or he wrote the quote and what it might mean to me.

But sometimes, an anonymous quote seems particularly powerful and deserves to be included. I think the one above qualifies. I hope you do too. Consider how a simple life, big dreams, expression of love, and the joy of laughs all cluster around a sense of gratitude.

#5: Gateway to Grace

“Living in a state of gratitude is the gateway to grace.” —Arianna Huffington

Most likely you know of the Huffington Post (now owned by BuzzFeed) and already know or won’t be surprised to learn that Arianna is the co-founder of it. More recently, she focuses her time on a foundation called Thrive Global, an organization she founded and for which she serves as CEO. In addition, she’s written 15 books, been named to Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people as well as the Forbes list of Most Powerful Women.

Not everyone who has been and is in a position of power takes the time to be grateful and to understand its value. That’s why I am so impressed with Arianna Huffington's statement “…gratitude is the gateway to grace.”

As you read this last quote, I hope you'll think about this quote and how you can introduce more gratitude into your life.

Want to be Grateful for Gratitude?