Gratitude Attitude: Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone… (Joni Mitchell Song)
Remember that line from the Joni Mitchel “Paved Paradise” song? “Don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone…” Those words couldn’t be more true. How many times do we take for granted what we have, only to realize it’s value in our lives when it’s gone?
Gratitude Attitude is the best way to be, because we could lose what we have, and wish we could return to it. This pandemic is a good example of that. We all took for granted the freedoms we had pre-pandemic, but we are really grateful for even little shades of those freedoms now.
I miss those freedoms we used to have, being able to move about freely, travel, have fun with our friends, go out to restaurants, music, movies, sports, or even go on retreats like people did who came to Gaia Sagrada Retreats for an inspiring experience! I’m good at being a hermit, so no problem, but it’s not as fun as it used to be, huh?
It’s going to go on for a while longer than we all thought, so how can we be grateful for what we do have right now, even though there is much loss all around us? How can we have the Gratitude Attitude?
We have all lost something: jobs, businesses, social connections, a sense of certainty about where our lives were going, maybe even a certain level of success that we were having.
Then BOOM! With the pandemic our lives have been seriously interrupted and completely changed direction, maybe for the worse at the moment. For some maybe it didn’t change that much, but for others it has changed drastically.
So how can we be grateful in the midst of loss, and seeing what we don’t have anymore?
GRATITUDE ATTITUDE: IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE
The answer is in the perspective we look at things from. Things could be worse for any one of us, right? If we are not starving and living on the street, we’re not doing too bad. If nothing else can help us have the gratitude attitude, that should do it!
We are getting a really clear look at what we took for granted before now. We simply expected all those things to be there that were there before, right? I’m guilty! We took for granted all that we had, even the simple things like being able to hug a friend.
Look at those words “took for granted.” Something was GRANTED, by life, government, society, somehow we had things that we don’t have now. We literally accepted them as being granted and it shouldn’t be any other way.
First, be glad that you got to experience all that, even if you can’t experience it for now. You got to live during a time when all those things were granted and they were simply there. Getting a hug from a friend was normal, or going to a movie was normal. Now, if we get to do those things, we would be so grateful. We wouldn’t take it for being granted at all. We would appreciate those things much more when we get to do them again.
Second, let’s look at what we DO have instead of focusing on what we don’t have anymore. I will talk about the “glass half empty or half full” concept in a moment, but really take a look. Are you lucky to have what you do have even though you might have lost a few things in other areas of life?
THINK OF IT AS A TRANSITION TO A NEW CHAPTER
If this helps, try thinking of it more as a time of transition to something different, a change to the next chapter of your life (one that might have been sorely needed) rather than a loss. When one door closes another one opens, even in the midst of a world crisis.
This is what transition to a new chapter in life looks like in the moment. Look at it from that perspective now, rather than a total bummer that life was interrupted so abruptly.
FIND THE SILVER LINING
Finding the silver lining can help us turn resentment about loss into the gratitude attitude.
For instance, maybe you lost a job and you now you don’t have to work with someone who annoyed the heck out of you and abused your good graces. Maybe that’s a good thing! You have better boundaries as to what you will tolerate in your work life now and you won’t make the same mistake again to work with people like that.
If it wasn’t that, maybe you were just getting stagnant where you were working and need something new but you were comfortable in that situation and weren’t going to leave unless something pushed you. Maybe this is the push you needed to finally be working on the plans for creating your own business that is more aligned with your dreams for your life, or getting a job that you like more, and with people you like more.
Maybe you had to simplify your lifestyle and move to a new location, or move back in with family to save money. Maybe some family member has had to move back in with YOU. Maybe this is a good thing! You have time to spend with your loved ones, work out anything that needs to get worked out, and this is a moment you wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the pandemic. Overcoming the karma in our biological family, if there are issues, is a big deal when it comes to growth. What a perfect moment to do that.
Maybe you were going through life on autopilot and now you are getting down to the nitty gritty healing work you have needed to do because for once you have time to focus inward.
Maybe now you have the time to get all those projects done around your house.
These are just a few examples of how you can find the silver lining in the situation.
We may not know what we are heading for, but we do know what we have right now, and if we are online with internet having time to read articles like this, we are doing ok!
GRATITUDE ATTITUDE IS THE PUREST VIBRATION
Gratitude is the sign of an evolved person. Unevolved people don’t have the gratitude attitude and might even have some kind of self entitlement energy, like they are SUPPOSED to have it. They are resentful when they don’t have it and might even over value themselves. They are not happy. They can’t appreciate how good they already have it.
A person with no gratitude needs to humble themselves in a big way. Often, we don’t realize that when we aren’t resonating with gratitude then we are always in the space of not having enough or wishing for what someone else has. This is not a happy zone.
On the other end of the spectrum is our own desire for other people’s gratitude when we give them something, or do something nice for them, especially if we went out of our way for them. It’s natural.
When we give something to someone, we are happy to give, but if they don’t have any gratitude for it and never say thank you, we won’t be giving it to them anymore, most likely. This is something in us that expects at least gratitude in return if we do something nice for someone. If they are self entitled and expect it, then the act of giving loses it’s shine.
If we do keep giving in those situations, there may be some kind of dysfunctional issues involved when we give and give over and over to a person who never shows gratitude, or even exhibits self entitlement instead of gratitude. If you are in this situation, take a look within. Something is out of balance.
Point is, if we exhibit and resonate with gratitude even in a time of losing something, the gratitude attitude allows us to live in a state of grace. It is a happier zone to live in, and in fact is THE HAPPIEST of all. We live with joy instead of resentment when we are in a state of gratitude. Also, anyone who was giving to us will be happy to give again if they feel it was appreciated by you. Make sure you show the gratitude attitude with proper thank you when someone does something nice for you.
IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
Be an evolved person and be grateful for everything, even the simplest things like having water, food, shelter, health, a shower, and even the internet! If any one of these things are missing from our lives, things wouldn’t be as good, right?
Your glass is half full, not half empty. Maybe even MORE than half, if we are really being honest about the situation. If we are looking from the perspective of a highly evolved person, we are looking with gratitude, and I mean DEEP gratitude, at what we have. Look around at life and we can all consider ourselves lucky, even if we don’t have much.
When we look at the glass as half full instead of half empty, this is the gratitude attitude.
BE GRATEFUL TO YOURSELF TOO!
Don’t forget to be grateful to yourself for creating the opening for what you have. If you worked really hard for it, and most likely you did, most of us have to work hard for what we have, give yourself thanks for stepping up to the challenge and doing the work it took to manifest that in your life. A lot of us have worked really hard for what we have created.
Some people get everything handed to them on a silver platter. We all get a lucky lifetime here and there, but it’s rare. If that’s the case, don’t feel guilty. Instead, thank yourself for allowing it into your life and being able to receive it. Be grateful for your good luck!
If you can share some with those in need, do so in honor of what you have been granted. Pay it forward. That nips any kind of guilt in the bud for having things easy in life, by the way. Just give back and keep your karma clean! But don’t do it for that reason. Do it simply because you are a good person and have a heart that cares a lot!
MY GRATITUDE TO YOU!
I would like to close with my gratitude to YOU, my dear friends on Medium! I’m looking at everything I’m grateful for, and I’m just realizing how grateful I am to have you all as friends on Medium.
THANK YOU to everyone who reads this post, for reading ANY of my posts, and clapping or commenting on them. It helps me a lot to know that there are some people out there who get something out of my posts.
I put a lot of time and energy into creating these posts and I have never posted much before this pandemic. I am even surprised at myself for posting this much! I have never been a social media kind of person. I’ve always been more of an in-person kind of person. The in-person thing is out of our reach for now, though.
There is a lot to look at on Medium so I really appreciate you stopping for a while to read my words. Thank you for being together with me on this crazy journey, and for all the kindness you have shared with me as time has gone by. I really am grateful you’re my friends on Medium and we get to share some insights and jokes together here.
I also want to thank you for saying thank you! It really warms my heart when someone says thank you. You may not realize how much that really means to me.
I’m small potatoes, I’m not some huge public figure who gets many views, but to know that I am helping, inspiring or entertaining a few, that really means the world to me. Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey and fulfilling my need to help someone. You help me too! It makes me feel good if I can help in some small way, even if it is just a post Medium.
It makes me feel good to know I’ve helped someone else along the way, maybe caused a smile, some inspiration, or just a validation of some sort. I really like to be in service, and you are granting me that opportunity. Thank you!
Christine Breese is the founder of University of Metaphysical Sciences, Gaia Sagrada Retreat Center, and Free Retreats 4 All. She is an author, teacher, speaker and healer facilitating spiritual journeys in person, meditation online, through her books and articles, and also through her Christine Breese Youtube Videos. She invites every person to discover the genius-master within themselves!
