Powerful You! Women's Network

By Lynn Hoft and Vivian Hildebrandt

 Gratitude is a wonderful feeling. It warms the heart, lightens our load, and brightens the day. We can feel it anywhere, at any time, and it's free. Gratitude embodies love, joy, contentment, happiness, and peace. It has one of the highest vibrational frequencies. It is the gateway to love.

 Gratitude comes directly from our natural brilliance. In a state of gratitude, we are thankful not only for what is, but for the potential of the moment. We know with certainty that anything is possible and we celebrate this awareness.

 Gratitude shifts our viewpoint in an instant. It is the shortcut to happier feelings. Without being aware, without reminding ourselves to dismiss a thought, a simple connection to gratitude immediately moves us to joy.

Not only does gratitude shift our attitudes and viewpoints, it has the ability to transform our lives. In a state of gratitude we, as creative beings, are able to bring forth the very best we can imagine. With the understanding that we are always in the process of creating our lives from our thoughts, charged with our feelings, we move all that we are into unlimited expression when we move into gratitude.

 Appreciating All that Is

Gratitude is appreciation for what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It occurs in the moment. Our heart swells with gratitude when we hear our children laugh or listen to birds sing. A magnificent sunset can dazzle our eyes and open our hearts. Have you ever lain on a beach at night and watched the sparkling stars, feeling like you were one with the universe? These experiences fill our hearts with gratitude and happiness as we are aware of what is.

 From the time we're small we're taught to make wishes; for example, to wish upon a star, throw a penny into a wishing well, or make a wish before we blow out our birthday candles. Wishes can help us connect with our desires for the future, our hopes, and our dreams. As we grow older, our wishful thinking may become, I wish I hadn't said that or I wish I hadn't done that or If only I had.... These wishes connect with our past and express dissatisfaction with what has occurred. Because these wishful-thinking habits focus on either the future or the past and shift attention away from the present moment, they lack the power to create anything new. They only recycle the past.

 Wishful thinking is tinged with a sense of lack, of regret or sadness. Creative power is charged with feelings of gratitude, abundance, and well-being. We can turn a wish into a creative thought by expressing a desire in present terms, stating it as though it is already ours, and seeing our wish fulfilled. For example, we might want a happier home, so we start focusing on and being grateful for the happiness we already have. By feeling truly grateful for what we have now, we automatically increase it. This is the law of gratitude. It expands the desire we have in the present; changing "wishful" to "grateful" gives power to its creation.

 Accepting All that We Are

Each of us is an amazing, awesome source of life and love. Once we recognize we are brilliant, incredibly wise, and powerful, our love of life grows. We can experience the beauty in every moment and the happiness that comes from this awareness. We have an unending supply of gratitude that inspires us and fuels us to actively participate in the dance of life. When living in this state of gratitude, we feel loving, joyful, youthful, supportive, positive, abundant, and happy. We see life as rich, fun, and magical.

 A good friend of ours decided to stay in the groove of her innate wisdom by using the key of gratitude. She chose to write thank-you cards each Monday to three of the people she works with. Her insight was that this type of gratitude would keep her in the flow of the true purpose of her work. She noted that whenever she is feeling up against the impossible, that one little gift of gratitude to another keeps her connected to her own wisdom and brilliance.

 Humility is living up to our greatness and not rejecting it. True greatness includes the responsibility to live from our brilliance. A constant flow of gratitude keeps us moving forward in happiness to share the gift that we are with all of life.

 ©2007, Back to Brilliance, Excerpt from Activate Your Brilliance.

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Back to Brilliance: Living From the Inside Out, is a company dedicated to providing learning experiences focused on the key principles for creating brilliant lives. It is owned and operated by business partners, Lynne Hoft, EdD and Vivian Hildebrandt, MA, who are both veteran educators. Their books, Activate Your Brilliance and Stop Stress Guide; their educational programs: Stop Stress in Its Tracks, Master Your Mindset, and Keys to Brilliant Living: the Art of Living Happy; and their weekly E-zine: The Ultimate Treasure, all assist clients to gain stress relief, create a mindset for success, and create fulfilling lives and happiness. Lynne and Vivian are experts in understanding feelings, thoughts, and stress management. For a broader understanding of feelings go to: www.backtobrilliance.com. For more information about creating a stress free life go to: www.backtobrilliance.com/stress

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Transform Today ~ Mega Summit Details

What's the one thing that brought together over 40 of the world's top thought leaders in business, coaching and education? Believe it or not, it's just one word: "YES!"

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