power

Ah – the Power of Gratitude

Gratitude: Just Say Thanks!

By Sandye Linnetz

Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted – a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is “good” in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

~RABBI HAROLD KUSHNER

It felt like I had nothing to be grateful for… At the age of 58 I was ready to retire and be a tennis playing, volunteering, lunch-with-the-ladies, stay-at-home wife. Then, within the course of only 18 months, I left the business I had loved, my husband of almost 20 years decided he wanted “out”, my dear father died, I had surgery on my knee, a 28 lb. box of books dropped on my face and a car accident that sent me into 8 months of rehab.

Then I read some books on gratitude. You can imagine how well that went over with me. It’s one thing to say “thank-you” for the good stuff in life – how was I going to be grateful for my current situation? I didn’t feel grateful for any of it! I didn’t deserve to have my wonderful life turned completely upside-down. None of it was fair!

The instructions were simple. Find a quiet place to sit. Close your eyes. Think of 10 things to be grateful for that would not have been possible without the circumstances that you have defined as “bad”.

It was after 10pm… dark, but a magnificent star-filled summer night, so I decided to do this exercise on the patio. I sat there for what felt like hours and came up with nothing. Really, what good has come out of any of this? Then #1 hit me… like a ton of bricks; if I hadn’t sold my company and my husband had not left, I would not have been able to spend all that wonderful, quality time with my father before he died. Didn’t go over there much with my husband. Went there a lot on my own. I got to be complete with my dad.

And, if I hadn’t had the knee surgery there’d be no possibility of ever playing tennis again. I love tennis. This was getting easier. I wouldn’t have been surrounded with so much love from my girlfriends (and I never really liked that whole scene before). I got my relationship back with my kid brother (who was persona non gratis with my ex). There was plenty of time for me to be with my mom and support her through her loss. I wouldn’t have been able to have grilled onions in my food (He hated onions). I wouldn’t have joined the botanical gardens or realized how happy I felt walking through them…

By the time I got to #45 I was laughing through my tears. What a shift! The more I found to be grateful for… the more I found to be grateful for!

Some people grumble because roses have thorns; I am thankful that

the thorns have roses.

~Alphonse Karr

Gratitude is infinitely more dependent on your attitude than on your circumstances. What occurs is insignificant compared to how you hold the occurrence – what you make it mean and how you judge it.

Be willing to let go of your judgments and experiment with shifting your point of view. There is always another way to look at any given situation. You are responsible for the way it is – not guilty for whatever happened – and you (your words and your actions) are actually at the source of your life. That’s powerful stuff. Exercise the “muscle” that has you look for the blessing within the crisis. Don’t stop looking – there is something to be grateful for in any situation. That’s the way it is. .

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle… except we can’t look at the picture on the box

to see that it will all fit together.

~Sandye Linnetz

Questions? Oh, Yes, I Have Questions!

by Sandye Linnetz

I love questions. Questions can be so powerful; especially those that lead to more questions. We potentially move beyond what we know, past presumption, past black and white, past our point of view and into the realm of possibility, the unknown and even into that stuff we didn’t know that we didn’t know! Questions move us to look inside, explore, weigh, ponder and search past assumptions. Clarity and understanding are potential fallout . The value of questioning as a step just before action enhances our ability to choose, justify and move. The questions you ask are powerful tools for growth… yours and everyone else who hears them!

There is an ancient parable about a young student who, to prove his worthiness as a spiritual master, was instructed by his teacher to move a large boulder from one location to another – by sunrise. He was instructed to use all of his power to accomplish this feat. He pushed as hard as he could but the boulder didn’t budge. He was exhausted and felt doomed to failure. The teacher came by just before sunrise and, seeing that the boulder had barely been moved, suggested that the student might make better use of his power with the aid of a tool. The student took the teacher’s suggestion; ran for a strong board and began to slowly move the rock. But he was running out of time and could see that this wasn’t going to work either. He threw himself to the ground in despair.

The master came by again and quietly asked, “Have you used ALL of your power”?

“Yes”, replied the young man, “and I am physically and spiritually exhausted! I have no power left.”

“Not so,” said the Master, “you have more power. You have not asked for my help. You have the power to do that. I told you to use ALL of your power.”

The student was humbled as he asked for the wise teacher’s help.

“Yes, I will gladly help you,” said the master as he called to his other students to join them. Together, they quickly moved the rock to the new location.

Sometimes our power comes from those around us. Sometimes we simply need to ASK.