“Gratitude is the portal through which abundance flows.”

Writing and talking about gratitude is one of my favorite topics, as I have written blogs, articles, and chapters about the virtues of thankfulness. Every year, I cannot help but revisit this topic again.

I see tweets and posts with gratitude expressed each day for someone or something in other people’s lives. Woohoo!

How about a SUPER CHALLENGE of finding what we may be grateful for with a challenging individual? In that difficult situation, try to see the spirit in them; or how we might be grateful for the lessons we are learning from that difficult person or situation. If we find it difficult to locate the gratitude with a person or scenario, perhaps forgiveness is an option. Forgiveness is a powerful door to open the flow of gratitude.

You know how much I love to use acronyms, so here goes one for gratitude:

Giving

Receiving

Abundance

Thankfulness

Intention

Together

Unconditionally

Directed

Everyone

When we are in a state of gratitude, we give and receive love and abundance. We are thankful for the intentional way we choose to live our lives. This awareness brings us together to unconditionally direct our love and gratitude to everyone, all of our brothers and sisters.

In a previous episode of Dr. Maria TV, titled, “3 Simple Steps to Abundance” I shared with you three strategies to cultivate gratitude. Another fun activity in which many of my clients participate is posting a gratitude board in a prominent place in the home. This could be a chalkboard or a white board. List anything on the board for which you are grateful, and invite family and friends to participate too. The board serves as a visual reminder each time you pass by it. Writing on the board, and practicing gratitude has become an integral thread in our family.

Another activity to cultivate gratitude in your life is to write a letter a day for one year to different people, indicating why you are grateful for him or her. This activity is beneficial to so many people on numerous levels. Your generosity will move and touch the hearts of all of the people that receive letters from you.

You, too, will receive joy and love in your heart all the while you are writing the letter, shifting your energy to love and gratitude each day while you are thinking about that person and completing the activity.

Finally, what you sow, so shall you reap. Do you have other ideas?

To which gratitude challenge are you willing to commit?

As always, I love to hear from you.

Maria