For January 17
“This is
the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
The
Research Project on Gratitude and Thanksgiving was a study of 300 people to
determine the role gratitude plays in a person’s life. The participants were divided into
three groups. The first group kept a diary of daily events. The second group recorded
their unpleasant experiences each day. The third group made a daily list of
things for which they were grateful. The researchers found that those who were
grateful experienced greater life satisfaction than those who recorded neutral
or negative events. Those who kept gratitude records exhibited higher levels of
energy, were more generous, and experienced less stress than those who didn’t
focus on the positive aspects of each day.
Focusing
less on the negative aspects of our lives and more on the positive aspects can
help us to better cope with daily living and bring constructive changes into
our lives. Helen Keller serves as role model for positive living and is known
for her courage against overwhelming odds. Despite her handicaps, frustrations
with learning, and numerous setbacks, she chose to move forward by focusing on
what she could do instead of what she could not do. Keller chose to re-frame her negative situations and focus
on the positive. As a result, she’s recognized for a life devoted to helping.
She said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look
so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened before
us.”
Her inspiring attitude is powerfully expressed in these
lines from her poem, “On Herself” They took away what should have been my eyes
(But I remembered Milton's Paradise)
They took away what should have been my ears
(Beethoven came and wiped away my tears)
They took away what should have been my tongue
(But I had talked to God when I was young)
He would not let them take away my soul---
Possessing that, I still possess the whole.
(But I remembered Milton's Paradise)
They took away what should have been my ears
(Beethoven came and wiped away my tears)
They took away what should have been my tongue
(But I had talked to God when I was young)
He would not let them take away my soul---
Possessing that, I still possess the whole.
A positive attitude changes everything!
Dr. Cathy Robbs Turner
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