The Seven-Day Gratitude Challenge
When was the last time you stopped to think about the things you think about?
Better yet, do you remember the first thought you had this morning when you woke up?
If you are like millions of people, your very first thought of the day as you groggily awoke was --
I didn’t get enough sleep!
That happy thought is immediately followed by a grunt or a sigh and a sense of dread,
I have so much to do today or I don’t have enough time (energy or money).
Wonder what kind of day you will have when those are your first thoughts of the day?
I’ll wager a bet... it won’t be your best day ever!
I’ll join author Lynne Twist and wager a guess of what your last thought of today will be.
I didn’t get enough done!
Thoughts of scarcity bookend most days for millions of people.
You do realize energy follows attention, right?
If, or when, you start your day with those kinds of thoughts, the good day you’ve dreamed of having was just hijacked!
The worst part?
You are both the hijacker and the hostage!
That’s why it is important to notice the things you think about!
Since energy flows where attention goes, it is wise to direct your attention.
YOU have the power to direct, to command your attention.
Jeff Dixon observed,
“Sometimes we focus so much on what we don’t have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have.”
Imagine this.
Imagine waking up and your first thought of the day being a thankful thought that you alive and given the gift of living this day!
Not everyone who went to sleep last night awoke this morning.
But you did.
Even if you didn’t sleep as well or as long as you would have liked -- YOU WOKE UP!
TRAIN YOUR BRAIN!
What if, instead of your first thought being, I didn’t get enough sleep, you say, I’m grateful to be alive... to have the gift of this day?
That would set you on a different course... a better course.
For thousands of years now, millions of devout Jews have prayed the Modeh Ani as they awake... before they get out of bed they pause for what in Hebrew is a 12-word prayer that takes about 12 seconds to pray.
In this prayer, they thank God for the gift of this day and remind themselves of God’s faithfulness.
The first words of the Modeh Ani -- when translated literally are,
“Thankful am I...”
“Thankful am I, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is your faithfulness.”
Starting your day like that sets you on a course... a course of abundance and expectancy.
What if, you take a 7-day challenge?
For the next 7 days let your first thought of the day be one of gratitude and thankfulness.
As your eyes begin to focus, choose to focus on something good… that you have a safe place to sleep, that you are loved, cared for, and care for others.
As you focus on something good, you’ll find other good things to focus on.
Train your brain to find the good in your life and you’ll find more good things in life.
From seven days to a lifetime— let’s take our habit of cultivating gratitude to the next level!
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