Gratitude

This week's meeting was very inspiring and informative. Next topic is ”Creativity- The Spark of Life"

Some of the things that came out from this week's meeting on Gratitude were:

-Many people are the most grateful for loved ones and for the real satisfactions in life, not so much for material things.

-There are so many ways to show appreciation and gratitude and it's very important to express it to others. One little expression of appreciation can change someone's life forever.

-Receiving appreciation can be just as wonderful as giving it out. Think of an experience of expressing gratitude and another experience of receiving it from someone- so profound that you've never forgotten the feelings. 

-A letter or a phone call or even an email telling someone that you appreciate them or something they did can change someone's day and leave you with a wonderful feeling. 

-Sometimes we're most grateful for unexpected outcomes of situations that were not of our conscious choosing. 

-We show appreciation by taking care of ourselves, of others and of what we have.

-Don't look back at what might have been - it could have turned out worse.

-We can be very grateful for the person we once were - that person might now be our best teacher. 

- Compose, add to and review often a list of all that you are grateful for. It comes in really handy on bad days. 

-We can be very grateful for our life's path which took us where we never planned to go with people and experiences better than any we could have mapped out. 

-How often do we express deep, heartfelt appreciation to those closest to us?

-Gratitude is an emotion ignited by thoughts and it changes every cell in our bodies, improves our health and the quality of our lives.

Fred Richter