On Gratitude

When I am full of
the great fullness of life
I am grateful.

In service, thanksgiving,
sharing and contribution
I am thankful.

Because
I am grateful
I am thankful.

Because
I am thankful
I am grateful.

In my gratefulness
and my thankfulness
I am in gratitude.

And in my gratitude
I am joyful.

3 ideas + 3 questions on gratitude.

Gratitude has many dimensions. Gratitude is experienced in our being when we cultivate a state of gratefulness in our inner world. Gratitude is expressed in our doing when we show up in service to others, share what we have to offer them and give thanks for everything we appreciate.

Yesterday I discovered the beautiful work of grateful living by Benedictine monk Br. David Steindl-Rast. In this beautiful conversation with Lynne Twist, she and Brother David explore the idea that gratitude is a container for our way of finding wholeness, fulfillment, enjoyment, belonging and contribution in ourselves and the world. They discuss two of the interconnected parts of gratitude:

• Gratitude we experience in our being — as an attitude of gratefulness.

• Gratitude we express in our doing — as a practice of thankfulness.

For me, this simple and profound explanation of gratitude is at once transformational. I’ve noted 3 of their ideas below:

1. Gratefulness is gratitude as a state of being. Gratefulness is the experience of a great fullness of life. This is a quality of fulfillment you experience as a filling up and almost overflowing appreciation for the gift of life. This fulfillment is so full, it makes you whole. And in your wholeness, you are one with all there is and nothing else. And in your oneness you become fully alive. And in your aliveness your heart becomes full of a profound feeling of joy. And this joy needs to be expressed in the world. Yet gratefulness is experienced and not yet fully expressed gratitude.

2. Thankfulness is gratitude as a practice of doing. Arising from gratefulness, thankfulness is the expression of gratitude with the world. Your great fullness has filled your heart with so much joy. And you are so joyful there is a world out there you can share it with, you are called to a practice of giving thanks to spread your joy. And in your giving of thanks, all you want to do is give, share, serve and contribute to share your appreciation for the world. Lynne calls this phase thanksgiving.

3. Just as our being and doing are interconnected parts, our experience of gratefulness and our expression of thankfulness are interconnected. Fully experienced and expressed, each feeds into the other and leads to an ever increasing sense of wholeness and fullness. Gratefulness leads to an experience of sufficiency and understanding that we are enough. Showing up in the world to express the joy we feel from our great fullness of life leads to a process of sharing ourselves with the world that has the capacity to create abundance.

This video is a part of a course called The Transformative Power of Sufficiency and Gratefulness offered by Grateful.org

Plus 3 questions:

1. What do you do to experience gratitude every day?

2. Are you grateful for your true gifts? What do you to practice and share your true gifts in the world as an expression of your gratitude and your generosity daily?

3. What is the relationship between having enough and gratitude?

3 insights on gratitude:

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