recovery attitudes gratitude.pdf

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Recovery Attitudes

GRATITUDE

No matter how terrible you think your present situation may be, rest assured

that more than 5 billion people would trade places with you in an instant! According to

census data, the world has an estimated population of near 6.8 billion people. Of these,

80 percent, or some 5.4 billion people, live on less than ten dollars a day. Two and a

half billion people live on less than 2.5 dollars a day. Yes, the world can be a cruel and

desperate place; even so, billions of people around the world would be willing to trade

their problems for yours sight unseen! Think about this these things the next time you

feel like murmuring or complaining. The truth is we have almost every reason to give

thanks and almost none to complain.

Gratitude Defined

We define gratitude as a conscious way of living where one remains alert for

opportunities of expressing appreciation, thankfulness and praise to God and others for

the people places and things in their lives. Grateful people realize that every breath is a

gift of the Lord and that all we have is a gift of His mercy and grace. A grateful person

doesn’t take the kindnesses of others for granted. They notice the little things as well asbig things.

Gratitude lives with eyes wide open and constantly says “Thank You!”

A grateful person has an awareness that blessings are everywhere around us.

People without an attitude of gratitude take people places and things in their lives for

granted. They hardly notice the great abundance about them. A grateful person

doesn’t need to be reminded of their blessings—they notice them as they occur. They

live in amazement as they experience the rich blessings of family, friends, relationships,

work, health and spiritual blessings. And, as they experience these blessings, theycannot help but respond in thankfulness to their God and those about them.

Gratitude is a new way of living

Imagine a new life based in gratitude. The first thing in the morning as you wake

up and open your eyes, you thank God for protecting you during the night and blessing

you with sleep. You thank God for the bed you slept in and the roof that covers your



head. As you bathe, you thank God for the clean water and soap—so many people

don’t have these things you know. As you put on your clothes, you thank God for the

fact that you have clothes to wear. You thank God for your education, work, and

relationships. You thank God for the transportation you have; and, as you travel to your

first appointment of the day, you thank Him for the beauty that you see around you.You thank God for each person he brings before you during the day and you thank him

for the acts of kindnesses that others show you as well as the acts that you can show to

others. As you go to bed, you thank God for another day of care and blessings.

There are three ways we may receive something.

Gratitude is an attitude we carry as we receive God’s wonderful gifts. Sadly,

many people go through life unaware of the blessings God has given them. To hear

them pray you’d think God never did a thing for them. They are always aware of needs

that aren’t being met and focusing upon what they don’t have. These people take muchof their life for granted—never stopping to say thank you. Like the ten lepers Jesus

healed, only one of them returned to say thanks. The other nine were wrapped up in

their own affairs. We can be like these people as well.

Others receive with arrogance. They seem to expect good things to come their

way. They blame God and act indignant if their lives don’t go as they think it should.

Their prayers, if they pray at all, instruct God about how He should best go about

meeting their needs. It’s as if they see God as some coin operated being who should do

as they ask; but, a grateful heart and arrogance cannot exist in the same place.

The third way we can receive God’s blessings is with awareness and

thankfulness. This is what God desires of us. He wants us to become aware of the care

he bestows on each of us. As we become more aware, we marvel at the completeness

of God’s love for us. We stop taking things for granted. We marvel at His nature and

the people places and things he brings before us. We feel blessed. We stop telling God

how to bless us and start thanking him for what he’s done for us.

Finding Gratitude in the Mundane

What could be more mundane than a daily cup of coffee? Yet, for every cup of coffee there are any number of people, places and things that deserve our thanks. First

we can thank God for the rain, soil, plants, growing season and coffee crop. We should

also give thanks for the people who grew and cultivated the coffee on the plantations

and farms. And, we can give thanks for others who worked long and difficult hours to

create a product for us to enjoy. Further, we have untold thousands of people to thank

for complex system of transportation that is to deliver our coffee to the store. Equally,



PHILIPPIANS 4:6 (NEW IN TERNATIONAL VERSION)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with

thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:18 (NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION)

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

________________________________________

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Write your answers in the Space below.

1. List five things these scriptures teach us about gratitude.

2. Think of something you are anxious about and describe what God wants you to do—

based upon these scriptures.

USE THE BACK OF THIS PAGE IF YOU NEED TO WRITE MORE.

RECOVERY WISDOM

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. Meister Eckhart:

________________________________________

WHAT DOES THIS SAYING MEAN TO YOU? GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW IT WORKS IN YOUR

LIFE.



EXERCISES IN GRATITUDE

FIVE AND FIVE

Go back to the discussion about gratitude and highlight 5 insights. Be ready to discuss them in

group.

Write five of your own personal insights about gratitude and be ready to discuss them in group.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5

FINDING GRATITUDE IN THE MUNDANE

Refer back to the reading about Finding Gratitude in the Mundane. Think of an “ordinary

blessing” that you are tempted to take for granted each day and explain the various aspects

about it that we should be thankful Try and be detailed.



THE ROSARY

A Catholic rosary is a string of beads or a knotted cord used to count prayers while the eyes are

shut or in a meditative mood. Typically a rosary will have 59 beads that are sectioned into 5 sets

of 10 beads--leaving the remaining nine beads to hang down. The rosary can be a useful tool for

counting blessings. Think about getting your own rosary—but for now—see if you can list 59

things you are grateful for. Try doing this exercise each day for a week.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59.

recovery attitudes gratitude.pdf

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