Post #300: The Great Fullness of Life

Today I am grateful for the great fullness of life that gratitude brings me. I am also grateful for the calm wisdom and motivating words of Brother David Steindl-Rast.

Today is post #300 for me and my blog. Wow! That is a lot of posts in less than eleven months. But I know more firmly now than I did when I started this blog that habitual gratitude is what I need. And I jokingly add that I can't call it "Habitual Gratitude" if I don't practice what I preach. Another shout out to my sister Danita-her use of the term "habitual gratitude" in an email last March gave me a blog name and the push to actually leap into the blogosphere.

If you have been following my blog, you are becoming familiar with the name Brother David Steindl-Rast. You see his words at the top of my posts page:

"In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, 

but gratefulness that makes us happy." 

 

These are absolutely some of the most profound words I have read when it comes to gratitude. I think it also explains why "stuff" will never make people happy. If we have all the "stuff" we want, but feel entitled to it, want more, or simply don't appreciate it, we don't have sustained happiness.  If we appreciate who and what we have, in little ways and big ways, we have a daily sustenance that brings  "great fullness of life."

 

Go to www.gratefulness.org and you will see where I got "great fullness of life" from.

What a wonderful play on words and what a fitting way to capture what rigorous gratefulness can bring. I use words like rigorous and habitual because I believe gratitude takes work. But it is the best work I do. Some days I don't want to do the work. Some days I just act as if. Experience has shown me that good habits can survive a lapse of a day, but I don't push my luck. You will find plenty of material at www.gratefulness.org if you are looking for motivation and inspiration.

 

I also have three previous blog posts where I talk about Brother David and his work:



Most recently from earlier this month--"Just for Today"

And two from October--"Worth the Risk"

and "Are You Awake?"

I just got Brother David's newly released book titled "99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life."  I will have more to say as I work my way through it.

For now, I am so very grateful that the practice of gratitude came in to my life 18 years ago and this blog has only served to deepen and broaden a better perception of myself and surrounding world.

If any of these 300 posts have touched you, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading. Have a good day!