Motivational Monday & PoP Midway Reminder: Gratitude

 If you are new to my blog and would like to know why I started Motivational Monday, please go HERE.

Hello and a warm welcome to those of you stopping by this Monday.  I appreciate you taking the time to come over and read what I have to say.  This evening, I'll be sharing a reflection on gratitude along with a couple freebies at the bottom of the post.  The reflection, and one of the freebies can also be found over on my Path of Positivity challenge blog as part of the midway post where the theme this month is GRATITUDE.  On with today's thoughts... 

 

 Give Thanks

The concept of giving thanks is a universal one.  We all have something in our lives which we can be grateful for.  The list differs for each of us because we all live in our own unique part of the world.  For some people when they get out of bed in the morning they can be thankful there is a roof over their heads.  For others not so fortunate, they can be thankful that no one came by and robbed them or worse, throughout a long cold night on the street.   And for many more, not hearing bombs go off during the night, can be what they wake up grateful for.  There are many people throughout the world that have lists and lists of things that they should be thankful for, but never are.  Then there are people who have so very little or are in pain or suffering great hardship, who make sure to say quiet 'thank yous' each and every day.

Regardless of your circumstances, I hope that there is still something, even if it is something very small, for which you are able to show your gratitude.  Being grateful is a mindset.  We can choose to show gratitude and take a more positive stance on things or we can choose to wallow and fixate on the negative. Being thankful, not just for the larger things but for the smaller ones too, allows us to fill our lives with love and appreciation.  It reminds us of all the good things that we have going for us. No, gratitude won't make the difficult things we are facing in our life go away, but it will help to provide us with a different perspective.  For example, I can complain about how painful and difficult it is for me to sit, stand and walk unassisted or I can choose to be grateful that I still have the capacity to do all three regardless of how long for the first two, or how far for the last.  Most days when I'm within my home, I can get by with the assistance of my canes.  While I have a wheelchair and scooter, I generally only need them when I leave my home or when I have a rather difficult day.  Under different circumstances I might be in that wheelchair permanently. For today I'm grateful that I'm not.

Whether the act of gratitude comes easy to you or not, it is definitely worth the effort.  Remember, everything in life that has any importance, takes hard work to achieve. There have been studies done that show the benefits of gratitude.  They indicate that people who demonstrate their appreciation on a daily basis, tend to be:

• more full of life,
• purposeful, 
• healthier,
• more creative,
• have better exchanges with their peers,
• more optimistic,
• able to deal with stress and personal challenges more effectively.

Sounds to me, like reason enough, to practice gratitude on a daily basis.  During my research, I came across this quote which summarizes some of those reasons nicely:

"In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize.  In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal.  In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope."  (Emmons, 2013, para. 2)

So, why not try giving thanks today and everyday?  With so many advantages to gain, what do you have to lose?!

References 
Adamski, Carol . (N.D.). The Value of Practicing Gratitude. Available: http://gratitudehabitat.com/be-grateful/. Last accessed 16th November 2014.
Emmons, Robert. (2013). How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times. Available: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_can_help_you_through_hard_times. Last accessed 16th November 2014.

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Here are the promised freebies.  The first was offered up at the challenge start and the second was just offered up today for the midway...

 

© 2014 

Font Information: 

• Scriptina Pro font created by Cheap Pro Fonts
• Garineldo font created by gluk

© 2014

Font Information:

• Leafy font created by West Wind Fonts
• Scriptina Pro font created by Cheap Pro Fonts

Please be sure to click on the images to bring them up into the lightbox in their proper size before saving them.  Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  All these fonts were listed as free for commercial use at the time each of these project were made, and as such, it is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others.  Please refer to my full terms of service for what you can and cannot do with these digital creations.

 
You will notice that the sentiments may appear huge depending on what software program you download them into.  You can always reduce the size without distorting the overall look. 

 

Credit Notes For These Creations:
©2014. Lisa L. Décosse. PUO. However, you are allowed to use the sentiments on handmade projects that you intend to sell on a small scale basis provided credit is given. You also need to include a credit note and a link to this blog should you use any of my images in your creations and post them on your blog. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with my full terms of use found in the 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of this page. Of important note:  Please do not share my images with family, friends, etc. Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc. Instead, please direct people to my blog(s) so they can grab the image for themselves. If you would like to post a watermarked version of the image, please contact me to obtain one.

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I invite you to go and check out, not only, the wonderful creations some members of my Design Team had the opportunity to create over on the Path of Positivity (click HERE for the midway) but also some of the great entries into this month's challenge (click HERE for the challenge).  I also invite you to come over and enter a project yourself, if you haven't already.  I'm sure that there are many people in your life, whom you could share a little gratitude with.  Why not create a card that helps to deliver some thanks to someone special in your life?!

 

Well, that is it for today!  Have a great week ahead everyone! 

 

Until next time,