Taking joy in the amazing power of gratitude

February 6, 2007

By Sharon Massoth
Special Correspondent

As a certified professional coach, I work area residents and businesses to help increase the success and joy in their lives.

Primarily, I focus on increasing their intuition skills and positive attitudes to bring out their winning edge and magnetize their success in achieving goals. I often coach my clients on the power of gratitude to help them accomplish this process.

Below are a number of life issues that clients often face because they forget how to apply gratitude to promote positive outcomes in their lives.

Have you had ideas of fun adventures, great relationships, satisfying jobs or new possessions that you greatly desire yet can’t seem to create? Do you feel stuck?

I see a lot of people who are unhappy for the following:

1. They are not living a life of what they powerfully want.

2. They are not living a life that is expressing their unique talents.

What they are missing is making gratitude a key part of their lives.

You must first connect with a loving energy if you want to change the nature of anything. By finding and connecting with gratitude even in negative situations, you tap into a power that can result in healing and transformation. Fighting an undesirable situation only makes it worse, for that denies the positive, the learning that is within it.

Here are some ways to increase your ability to use gratitude to increase your joy and success.

The importance of positive thought has been written about for centuries. According to the writers of the film “The Secret” and authors Esther and Jerry Hicks of “The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent,” everyone can be a powerful creator of what they desire by holding positive intentions and feelings. Conversely, you can repel or slow down what you desire when you hold negative thoughts. For example, if you think and feel poor, you will continue to want. If you feel lonely, you attract more loneliness.

I like the idea of tweaking thoughts and feelings upward by reflecting on gratitude. I first allow full recognition of the negative state instead of repressing it. I then gradually move my feelings upward to a more positive one. Most of us can’t jump octaves, but we can let our fingers climb the scale one by one. The intention makes all the difference.

A lot of people constantly wish for aspects of their lives to be different and never feel content in the moment.

The worst thing you can do is squelch positive changes. People who find happiness in each day while naturally intending and working on new things succeed.

Below are three examples of how to be grateful for all the things that happen in our everyday life.

Gratitude for lessons learned

I always like to think that while my ego self goes kicking and screaming, my wiser, trusting soul sees the reason for all challenging events.

I feel a release followed by a deep peace when it all makes sense.

A recently divorced man told me that he changed his thinking from, “I hate that I married my wife. I have lost most of my life living with her,” to “I am grateful that I left that relationship. It was good for many years and then it was time to leave except I wasn’t strong enough. From dealing with my insecurities, I have learned how to have the strength to quickly end things that are less than what I want.”

Gratitude for feedback

Recently, it appears that few bosses, from corporate to military circles, are grateful for feedback. Jean Lipman-Blumen, author of “The Allure of Toxic Leaders” wrote, “Toxic leaders feed their followers the illusion that they are both omnipotent and omniscient,” decreasing their ability to receive feedback.

Leo Hindery, chairman of InterMedia Advisors, said chief executives “can easily surround themselves with subordinates who only affirm and seldom question.”

When you are grateful for feedback from all levels, you can ward off embarrassing mistakes. Gratitude for feedback reveals your true inner strength.

Gratitude for your uniqueness and courage

Be grateful for your unique contributions and style. Don’t waste your talents by not believing in yourself.

Lucinda Watson, author of “How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success,” included an interview with her late father, Thomas J. Watson Jr.: “I would tell young people starting out today to dare to do what they really want to do.ÊTo not be afraid. To try new things – even if they’re ultimately not successful. To be ready to see an opportunity and take a risk. I talked my father blue in the face about taking IBM public É obviously it was a good thing.”

Sharon Massoth offers intuitive life coaching in the Greenwich area to individuals and business leaders. She has been a motivational speaker at the Wainwright House in Rye, N.Y., and at leadership conferences. Reach her at massoth@comcast.net or www.sharonmassoth.net. She is a member of Greenwich Associates for Well-Being, an interdisciplinary group of independent practitioners collectively dedicated to promoting the awareness of and facilitating opportunities for holistic well-being. Contact Kimberly K. Kristoff, LMT, CRM, founder, with questions or information at GAFWB@yahoo.com.