Gratitude is a Miracle

A note from peter@thewealthyattitude.com for Thursday November 13 2008

Well folks, we arrived back safely, however, to weather that folks here in the prairies should get a medal for living in. Brrrrr stuff.

Here's a couple of pictures that capture the mountains.

The weather notwithstanding here in the prairies, gratitude abounds around here for the many blessings of sights, sounds , tastes, and lessons that this trip visited upon us. Life will be different as a consequence.

Today's offering reflects very much how I'm feeling today. I believe you'll enjoy it.

Gratitude is a Miracle

A miracle is traditionally defined as an extraordinary event by divine intervention, but we also use the word to describe an occurrence that was previously thought to be impossible.

Gratitude can be one of these miracles in your life if you let it. How? By giving you the power to turn any difficulty, any challenge, or any heartache into a blessing.

The thing about miracles is that you have to be willing to see and acknowledge them. If you wanted to keep a pessimistic or cynical outlook, you could easily ignore what appears to be a miracle. We see this all the time! A person with a supposedly terminal illness is told he only has 3 months to live, and he's still going strong 10 years later. A woman who is told she can never conceive a child decides to adopt, and finds out she's pregnant shortly after. There are endless stories like this, where the impossible suddenly became possible - in other words, a miracle occurred. Yet, some people choose to see these events as "coincidences" or merely random flukes.

Any miracle can be explained away if a person has a vested interest in remaining cynical. The question to ask yourself is: do you have such an interest? Or are you willing to allow a gratitude focus to perform miracles in your life?

Take a moment and consider any "impossible" situations in your life right now. Why do you believe they are impossible? Are you willing to believe in the possibility that a miracle could occur?

If you answered yes to that question, here is how to use gratitude to invite miracles into your life.

1) Never say "never". How many times have you been absolutely certain that something couldn't happen, only to find out later that you were wrong? It happens a lot! Begin to open your mind to the possibilities and believe that what you think is impossible may not be so at all. Just because you can't see any possible way for something to happen doesn't mean a way doesn't exist! Express gratitude for the possibilities you are aware of, and also those you haven't even considered yet. Open your heart and mind to gratitude for the miracles that might be coming your way.

2) Even if something does appear to be totally hopeless by all the laws of physics and tangible reality as we know it, allow gratitude to turn it into a miracle through the grace of acceptance. Embrace what you cannot change. Let it become something that blesses you rather than hinders you. Even better, let it become something that blesses others. Use your impossibility to change lives and by extension, the world. A way exists if you open to it.

3) Apply gratitude to every hardship, challenge, obstacle and pain in your life. Be thankful for the ways they help you grow in wisdom and inner strength. Love your illnesses, your heartaches, your struggles and your enemies. Bless them for imparting deeper meaning and richness to your life.

Through love and gratitude, ANY situation can be healed. Perhaps the healing will not come in the form you expect or in the exact timeline you hope for - but healing will come. Simply open to it and embrace it, and you will have created your very own miracle.