“It’s amazing how, when you condition yourself to have a grateful spirit, you will find yourself expressing gratitude and multiplying that feeling in your life.”
Andy Andrews, The Seven Decisions
Last year, when we moved to Florida, I was dreading a 4-5 day drive that I was going to have to make from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Not because I don’t like road trips but because of the cargo I was carrying. My dogs!
If you know anything about me, I love my dogs. They are my babies. That was the reason I was making the drive. I was not comfortable transporting them on a plane.
My fear was throwing them off of their “bathroom routine.” Typically, I would just open the door at my old house, let them do their business, and they would come back in. Easy Peasy.
So every day on this trip, I would have to take time to walk them in whatever city we were in, and I wasn’t sure they were going to handle it well. They handled it amazingly.
Not only were they fine going to the bathroom, their tails were wagging non-stop, and they were so happy to go for a walk with their dog dad multiple times a day. Their excitement became my excitement.
What did I learn? Often, the thing we dread can become the thing we love.
Now that I have lived in Orlando for over a year, if I am home, I walk my dogs every morning first thing and then again at night before going to sleep. Tails are still waggging, but every day when I do this, I feel extremely grateful that I am a) able to walk in such beautiful weather each day and b) that I can get some exercise to clear my mind first thing and last thing of the day. I honestly say to myself every morning, “I am so grateful I am here.”
As the Andrews quote shares, I have found that the more grateful I have become for things in my life, it seems better things have come my way. I am enjoying my work more than I have. My family seems closer and happier. I spend more time with friends doing things I love.
Or maybe, things aren’t different, but I am seeing things in a different way.
The more gratitude I practice, the more grateful I become for the things that I already have.
Is my life better, or am I more appreciative?
Probably a little bit of column A but a lot more of column B.
