I spent a long time working with the \u201canonymous people\u201d – alcoholics, addicts, and those who love them. I love them. Their example is powerful. It can provide hope and help motivate meaningful change. I learned a lot and found it difficult not to embrace change.<\/p>\n

Within that community are people I would describe as \u201cThe Grat Pack\u201d or, perhaps more simply, gratitude ninjas. Not only do they possess the quality of thankfulness, they freely show appreciation and a willingness to share kindness.<\/p>\n

They know that gratitude is a feeling; that it can interrupt anxiety and provide a little respite from depression. Gratitude is a gift. In my less than humble opinion, the folks I admire the most know it as a practice or a way of life.<\/p>\n

In light of some recent difficulties I found myself working hard to focus on my gratitude. Personal struggles, health issues, tech problems, loved ones\u2019 pain\u2026 every single bit of it could be worse. A lot worse. And that\u2019s where it begins. As one of those gratitude ninjas used to say, \u201cif you can\u2019t be grateful for what you have, you can always start with being grateful for what you don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today I am grateful that I don\u2019t have to stay stuck, that I learned a gratitude practice from the ninjas, and that it still works for me. And a bonus? I\u2019m thankful that I can share with you. Here are some other thoughts on the topic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An Attitude of Gratitude<\/h3>\n

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~\u00a0Melody Beattie\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Where we used to run from responsibility, we find ourselves accepting it with gratitude that we can successfully shoulder it. Instead of wanting to escape some perplexing problem, we experience the thrill of challenge in the opportunity it affords for another application of A.A. techniques, and we find ourselves tackling it. ~ The \u201cBig Book,\u201d of Alcoholics Anonymous<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m so grateful<\/a> for everything you’ve ever given me; How can I explain what it means to be loved<\/a> by you ~Sir Paul McCartney from Memory Almost Full<\/p>\n

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. ~ Cicero<\/p>\n

She does not know what the future holds, but she is grateful for slow and steady growth.~ Morgan Harper Nichols<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Thank you nothingness, thank you clarity\u2026” username=”AndreaPatten”]<\/p>\n

Inhale love. Exhale gratitude.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Happiness is gratitude for the miracle which granted another go-around at a life once abandoned. ~Came to Believe<\/p>\n

Thank you India
\nThank you Providence,
\nThank you disillusionment
\nThank you nothingness
\nThank you clarity
\nThank you thank you silence ~ Thank U, Alanis Morrisette<\/p>\n

Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.\u2014\u00a0A.A. Milne<\/p>\n

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.~ Alfred North Whitehead<\/a><\/p>\n

Be thankful for what you have. Your life, no matter how bad you think it is, is someone else’s fairy tale. ~\u00a0Unknown<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Your life is someone\u2019s fairy tale.” username=”AndreaPatten”]<\/p>\n

What if\u00a0today we were grateful for everything?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Silent gratitude isn\u2019t very much to anyone. ~\u00a0Gertrude Stein<\/p>\n

Living one\u2019s life in gratitude brings about a feeling of harvest, abundance, richness, and blessings received, and blessings bestowed. I have learned to look to the ordinary joys, the simple pleasures<\/a> and find therein the best in all things. The beauty that surrounds us every day, the turning of the leaves to gold and red, the brightness of the moon and the chips of stars shining silver in the night, these things happen every day and every night. They are always there. ~ Chris Williamson<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”When you are grateful, you are happy.” username=”AndreaPatten”]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I work very hard, and I play very hard. I\u2019m grateful for life. And I live it \u2013 I believe life loves the liver<\/a> of it. I live it. ~ Maya Angelou<\/p>\n

It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy. ~Unknown<\/p>\n

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you can get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent a long time working with the \u201canonymous people\u201d – alcoholics, addicts, and those who love them. I love them. Their example is powerful. It can provide hope and help motivate meaningful change. I learned a lot and found it difficult not to embrace change. Within that community are people I would describe as \u201cThe Grat Pack\u201d or, perhaps more simply, gratitude ninjas. Not only do they possess the quality of thankfulness, they freely show appreciation and a willingness to share kindness. They know that gratitude is a feeling; that it can interrupt anxiety and provide a little respite from depression. Gratitude is a gift. In my less than humble opinion, the folks I admire the most know it as a practice or a way of life. In light of some recent difficulties I found myself working hard to focus on my gratitude. Personal struggles, health issues, tech problems, loved ones\u2019 pain\u2026 every single bit of it could be worse. A lot worse. And that\u2019s where it begins. As one of those gratitude ninjas used to say, \u201cif you can\u2019t be grateful for what you have, you can always start with being grateful for what you don\u2019t have.\u201d Today I am grateful that I don\u2019t have to stay stuck, that I learned a gratitude practice from the ninjas, and that it still works for me. And a bonus? I\u2019m thankful that I can share with you. Here are some other thoughts on the topic.   An Attitude of Gratitude Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~\u00a0Melody Beattie\u00a0\u00a0 Where we used to run from responsibility, we find ourselves accepting it with gratitude that we can successfully shoulder it. Instead of wanting to escape some perplexing problem, we experience the thrill of challenge in the opportunity it affords for another application of A.A. techniques, and we find ourselves tackling it. ~ The \u201cBig Book,\u201d of Alcoholics Anonymous I’m so grateful for everything you’ve ever given me; How can I explain what it means to be loved by you ~Sir Paul McCartney from Memory Almost Full Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. ~ Cicero She does not know what the future holds, but she is grateful for slow and steady growth.~ Morgan Harper Nichols   [bctt tweet=”Thank you nothingness, thank you clarity\u2026” username=”AndreaPatten”] Inhale love. Exhale gratitude.   Happiness is gratitude for the miracle which granted another go-around at a life once abandoned. ~Came to Believe Thank you India Thank you Providence, Thank you disillusionment Thank you nothingness Thank you clarity Thank you thank you silence ~ Thank U, Alanis Morrisette Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.\u2014\u00a0A.A. Milne No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.~ Alfred North Whitehead Be thankful for what you have. Your life, no matter how bad you think it is, is someone else’s fairy tale. ~\u00a0Unknown   [bctt tweet=”Your life is someone\u2019s fairy tale.” username=”AndreaPatten”] What if\u00a0today we were grateful for everything?   Silent gratitude isn\u2019t very much to anyone. ~\u00a0Gertrude Stein Living one\u2019s life in gratitude brings about a feeling of harvest, abundance, richness, and blessings received, and blessings bestowed. I have learned to look to the ordinary joys, the simple pleasures and find therein the best in all things. The beauty that surrounds us every day, the turning of the leaves to gold and red, the brightness of the moon and the chips of stars shining silver in the night, these things happen every day and every night. They are always there. ~ Chris Williamson   [bctt tweet=”When you are grateful, you are happy.” username=”AndreaPatten”]   I work very hard, and I play very hard. I\u2019m grateful for life. And I live it \u2013 I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it. ~ Maya Angelou It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy. ~Unknown If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you can get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3,9],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-15159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun-inspiration","category-happiness","category-thinking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15159"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15175,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15159\/revisions\/15175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15159"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=15159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}