Cultivating and Attitude of Gratitude

I love that we get to experience things in patterns!

Often I learn a new principle or I am reminded of something I knew previously, and suddenly I have several experiences, conversations, or other exposures to that exact principle within the next days to weeks.

This just happened this week.  Just a couple of days ago, I posted my weekly video which was about Reframing.  That same day I decided to finally get around to reading the book: FLIP the Gratitude Switch by Kevin Clayson. (I don’t remember the exact manner in which this happened, but Kevin sent me a copy of his book with a personalized note in it.)

FLIP the Gratitude Switch: A Simple Formula to Change the Trajectory of Your Life

I’m only about halfway through, but already I have learned a lot about reframing our moments of frustration into moments of gratitude and positivity.  In fact, after my first few minutes reading essentially just the introduction and foreword, I was already inspired to act on the idea of choosing to exercise gratitude.  I hadn’t learned Kevin’s perspective yet, but intuitively I felt an idea of where it would take me and I started acting on that impression the very next day.  I’ll share one experience I had that day.

I was ready to get home from work, and as often is the case there was a LOT of traffic.  I also have to cross a train track to get home, which at times delays my commute.  I was already worried about the long line in the left turn lanes and added onto the situation a heavy dose of negative speculation that this was the type of day that I would also get stuck on the wrong side of a train.

Well, there wasn’t a train, but there was a fire truck.  The fire engine had to use the wrong side of the road to get past traffic at the intersection, which prevented the turning lanes from moving at all.  We missed our green arrow.

Tragic, I know…

The moment of frustration immediately shattered for me as I thought about how emotionally responsive I was being to a matter of a few minutes.  I thought about FLIP the Gratitude Switch and decided to give it a try.  I quickly thought with sincere, heart-felt gratitude that I was really lucky to live in a place with first responders who were competent and readily available in case I ever experience and accident or other emergency.

My grumpiness converted to peace and happiness in just a simple moment.  Just because I FLIPPED the Gratitude Switch.  I didn’t even really know what that meant yet, but regardless it made a huge difference.

Since that day, I have been exercising my “gratitude muscles” often, and my mood has been much improved because of it.

I highly recommend grabbing a copy of Kevin’s book.  I’m sure I will write more about it, and hopefully I can connect with Kevin more in the future.

He seems like an amazing guy.  I love that even though he has done some amazing, big things, he remains accessible and has responded to me on Facebook on more than one occasion.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to associate with champions like Kevin, who courageously pursue their mission and purpose, and it is such a blessing to see how they are impacting the world because of it!

FLIP the Gratitude Switch: A Simple Formula to Change the Trajectory of Your Life