If you really, truly want to have the best holiday ever, I mean one like you have never experienced before . . . one that your soul has always yearned for . . . the kind of holiday you have always dreamed about . . .
. . . then I have a very simple recipe to create that experience for you.
It has just two ingredients —
1. Gratitude.
2. Perspective.
Shall we practice it?
If you woke up in your bedroom this morning, got out of your warm bed, and walked into your bathroom . . . be grateful.
There are 100 million people who are homeless and 1.6 billion without adequate housing.
If you opened your refrigerator at some point today and paused trying to figure out what to eat . . . be grateful.
There are almost 800 million people who go hungry every day.
If you are reading this, even if you need your glasses . . . be grateful.
17% of the world’s adult population is illiterate.
If you got in your car, cursed your way through a commute, and suffered through a job you hate . . . be grateful.
There are 200 million people without a job.
(And yes, I would strongly encourage you to consider a new job in 2017. Your life is too precious to be suffering through it.)
If you went through the whole day and didn’t hear any gunshots, not even once . .. be grateful.
1 in every 122 people is a refugee of war, violence or persecution.
If you took a glass from the cabinet, turned on your faucet – or even more miraculously, poured yourself some bottled water . . . be grateful.
10% of the world does not have access to clean water.
Over the years, I have found that these two simple principles – gratitude and perspective – are all I need to provide me with a great deal of joy in my life, regardless of what I personally may be dealing with.
There is no doubt we all suffer and experience struggles in our lives, but with a moment of pause, and a little perspective, you will quickly see how incredibly blessed you are.
The reality is, if you are reading this blog on your computer, chances are very good that you are among “the 1%” of the world.
“What if you woke up today with only those things you thanked God for yesterday.”
– Anonymous
Wow! What a concept! When I read this it stopped me and had me think about yesterday. It had me think about what gifts in my life I acknowledged . . . and all those I did not.
Gratitude takes but a moment, but lasts a lifetime. It leaves traces of love in your heart, and the heart of others. If there is one gift we should not be a Grinch about this holiday season, it is our gratitude. It costs nothing, yet is a treasure to all who hold it.
Epilogue
A few days after I wrote this entry, my neighbor in the condo above me had a leak and water poured into my bathroom through the ceiling. This is the third water issue I have had in my home this year. As you can imagine, I was a bit frustrated.
As I thought about the inconvenience and began to get annoyed, I suddenly remembered this entry that I just wrote. I thought about the hundreds of millions of people that don’t even have access to clean running water. And just like that, my emotions shifted from annoyance to actually being grateful for the fact that I even had the possibility of clean, running water leaking through my bathroom ceiling.
Amazing what a little perspective will do.
READ HOW THIS APPLIES TO YOUR BUSINESS here.
Rich Largman
Empire of Hope 