Difference Between Gratitude And Thankfulness

Clara Brown

"Gratitude brings light into our hearts spread warmth throughout our bodies and radiate positive energy into the world. The more we consciously and consistently grow in our practice of gratitude, the more benefits we will experience." Michele  Wahlder

"Practice makes perfect." How often have we heard this saying?  I say it very often to my son and every time that I do he asks me what does it mean.

We would not go far if we did not practice whatever tasks we had to accomplish.  Be it playing the piano, scrambling eggs or applying make-up (for those of us who powder our noses) and many other skills.  This saying is also true of gratefulness. 

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you and to give thanks continuously.  And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude." Ralph W. Emerson

Looking back on my formative years, I was taught by grandparents and parents to be grateful. Simply put - GIVE THANKS.  We were instructed to practice gratefulness.  Over time and through repetition, I learnt how to practice gratefulness even when things did not turn out quite the way I anticipated. I was taught to thank God for small mercies.

My experience is that, unlike other lessons, practicing gratefulness brings instant gratification.  Every other practice that I have done might take some time to bear fruit. Not gratefulness.

The practice of gratefulness brings immediate joy.

Being grateful is more than being thankful.  It is an inside gesture and an attitude from which a meaningful thankfulness will emanate. Often, there are things or circumstances that get in the way of practicing and assuming this attitude of gratefulness. It could be bad news about your neighbour, a waft of pain in your chest or an unexpectedly high utility bill. Just about anything. Someone else's ungratefulness could annoy you and block or hinder your assuming your own attitude of gratitude.

My gratefulness opens me to the flow of abundance, fill me with joy and connects me with the Source of my flow or my joy.  I will not pretend that there are no obstacles to my gratefulness. None of us are infallible. I get overwhelmed, I worry, I become anxious about getting things done, I become distracted and feel weighed down with responsibilities - all of which are obstacles to my expectancy of "all things working together for good." However, when I recognize the blockades to my gratefulness, I replace them with the 'bright-side perspective'.  As I embrace the 'bright-side' of whatever the seeming obstacle is, my joyful, grateful flow returns.

There are various methods we can use to practice and pursue a grateful attitude. The chosen method(s) for each of us will depend on the individual personality, goal or needs.  I have a few suggestions on practicing gratitude.

1. Count your blessings often. Even the every day ones. The so-called small ones. Do so every single day.  However, to avoid your blessing counting practice losing its meaning, vary your methods.
2. Express your gratitude directly. It may be to someone who has helped you, mentored you, perhaps an old teacher, a coach or a supervisor. 
3. Write what you are grateful for. Sit down with pen and paper or at your computer and start, “I am grateful for … .” Maybe you will have to stop there for a minute and wait because you just cannot think of anything. Just wait. Something inside you will shift. The words will come.

This Gratefulness Force that you are tapping into is bigger than you and it is bigger than your problems, no matter how big that is. That tide of fear that is overwhelming you is not all there is. There is so much more to you than that.

Your gratitude practice is your ride across those troubled waters so put your oars into the water.

Remember, we are always here to support you, so leave a comment here or on our Facebook page and we will be more than happy to chat with you!

By The Grace Of God...

How many times have you heard someone say, "By the Grace of God go I," or you said it pondering your situation?

I used to say it quite frequently when I was working at a women's prison in Canada. It would come to my lips as well later when I transferred to a men's facility.

By now it is obvious that story telling is my thing. Love to hear others' journeys and freely share my own if I feel it will help even one. So unlike some, I would sit on a pod for hours, this is is where four to five inmates lived on the maximum security unit, and listened to their stories. Story after story, I would be nodding and whispering "by the Grace of God go I."

It could easily have been me incarcerated on one of those pods. You could have been the one hearing my story of how I stabbed the last man who put his hand in my panties at 12 years old. Twenty-five to life they would have given me had I followed a popular saying by Jamaican women.

When pushed to the limit, I have heard on numerous occasions my mother or other aggrieved women saying, "I will t'row hat oil inna him ears!" (Message me for translation - lol) How many times I have thought to do just that after being slapped, pinched and beaten by a former husband. By the Grace of God I restrained myself.

Flat broke, sleeping on a half blown up mattress on the floor with one tin of sardines and half pound of flour in the cupboard for food, wondering whether I could make it through this time. Then, by the Grace of God, a few thousand dollars was transferred to my account from an agency that I thought would not pay me.

What is this "Grace?" Believers are of the opinion that "Grace" is God's favor to undeserving sinners and/or is a special blessing. Personally, my appreciation of grace has evolved from that elementary understanding.

Grace is available, freely flowing to all of us. Believers and nonbelievers of any or all religious or spiritual paths.

Grace is Love. Grace is the natural order of Life.

We fall out of Grace or out of sync with this natural flow of life through our thoughts and actions that say we are undeserving of our greatest good. We were spoon fed these thoughts and notions and/or kept repeating them to ourselves, consciously or unconsciously, to the point that they have blocked our aligning with Life.

Take my experience of being broke mentioned earlier. For all my childhood years, my mother fed me a diet of poverty, unworthiness, envy of others and all thoughts associated with such notions. As I have written in another post, to me our life was okay. However, hearing how bad things were and how much it was due to me often enough, it sunk in.

No matter how successful I was, it was never enough. The race against poverty and the Joneses was a long and challenging one. It took rock bottom for me to finally start cleaning up and throwing out those tapes.

Aligning myself with Life/Source/God without any particular religious path has seen Grace being a constant presence in my life.

"Grace is Authenticity - 'If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.' ~ Jesus according to the gospel of Thomas. Grace is when you authentically acknowledge your feelings and thoughts. Grace welcomes all feelings and, paradoxically, liberates you from the impulse to act on feelings that serve anything less that the highest good." Art of Grace 

"By the Grace of God go I." In Grace, we all live move and have our beings. Once we awaken to this - this free-flowing 'blessing', the Order of Life - our life experiences are nothing short of what we tend to call "miracles."

Do have the most Grace-filled day! Connect with me anytime here, on Facebook, Twitter or through our BBM Channel: C004D8ABD

Blessings!

Photo Source: zengardener.com