“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ~ Charles Dickens

Yesterday, while driving to work in the morning, I had quite the moving experience. I don’t know if it was the conversation I had earlier in the week with the Dish network customer service rep, or just the stressors of the past few weeks all coming together, or the fact that I was driving, listening to my ‘liked songs’ playlist on Spotify in complete silence . . . no phone calls while I drove, just me and the music.

As I drove, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude. Not just thankfulness for the blessings in my life. I mean, an all-enveloping, warm hug sensation of peace and gratitude that just filled me up and bubbled over in tears as I drove. I don’t mean a silent tear slipping down my face, I mean an all-out steady stream of tears rolling down my cheeks (which miraculously did not smear my non-waterproof mascara).

Earlier in the week, I called to pause my Dish network service and the customer service rep, Debra, and I had the longest conversation about gratitude and what was going on in our respective lives. I do not know Debra, I’ve never met her . . . never spoken with her before. For whatever reason, when she asked how I was doing, and I said “okay . . we have a warm house, utilities, food on the table, clothes, jobs . . . ” she went on to say that she and her husband were having some difficulties and he had suggested listing all the things she was grateful for — a gratitude list. She had done that for the first time THAT morning, and was surprised how much it helped offset the negative things that were happening in their lives. By the end of the phone call, not only was my service paused but we were each thankful for an opportunity to encourage and lift each other up.

We all have stress in our lives. It can be easy to focus on all the problems and forget the little things we no longer notice or have taken for granted. Making a gratitude list has many benefits:

• Shields you from negativity
• Has been shown to make you feel 25% happier
• Rewires your brain to see gratitude before negativity
• Eliminates stress
• Heals
• Improves sleep
• Boosts self-esteem and performance
• Improves relationships, and
• Enhances the law of attraction

Let’s look at that last one. How can having a a sense of gratitude enhance the law of attraction? Think about it. Would you rather spend time with a person who is smiling and upbeat, or a person who is down and negative? Tigger or Eeyore? In the workplace . . . who is more likely to get promoted — the person who is confident that things can be done, or the naysayer who insists that things cannot change? Who do you feel better about talking to — the person who makes eye contact and asks questions about your day and sincerely waits for your answer, or the person who is busy with their phone while loudly complaining to anyone who can hear about all their personal problems?

I have a sweet friend who delivers food for Doordash. She commented this week that she had actually made small talk with her customers while delivering their food and found that they tipped better. Then she used the Doordash app to send not just a message stating she was “on the way” but a funny meme with the message which also improved her tips AND made her customers laugh and had a few mention that it “made their day.” That encouragement then increased her gratitude and it just grows from there. So YES . . . a spirit of gratitude can enhance the law of atttraction.

Does it mean there won’t still be people trying to rain on your parade? Of course there will be. The world is not a perfect place.

Feel free to comment . . .what is on your gratitude list today?