When my children were young, we played a game. I told them there was a yearly battle between Old Man Winter and the young, beautiful Princess of Spring every February. Then, I would ask them if they thought the young princess had already won the season and we would see no more snow. We would take our best guess, giving us something to banter about for a month or so as the weather improved. Every nice day, the children would remind me about the princess as they usually sided with her. However, I contend Old Man Winter never goes out entirely quietly. At least not where I live.

 Spring is Springing

As we head toward Spring, Easter, and the vernal equinox, a Biblical quote is worth contemplating this time of year. Psalm 118:24 goes something like this, depending on your version of the bible you have: “This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.”

The Psalm and Easter

Many Christians tend to associate this Psalm with the coming of Easter as part of the anticipation of the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. This makes perfect sense when you put it into the context that the day of Christ’s resurrection is the most important day in the Christian calendar.

The Psalm as a reference to Gratitude

Many will say this is an affirmation or prayer that works 365 days a year, and they would be right. It hung in my kitchen right by my coffee pot for years as a reminder to seize the day. However, I took a motivational pick me up from it most of the time and did not focus on the “be glad in it” part. I missed the expression of gratitude for the day and life in general in the Psalm. In our book “Become the Boss of You,” you do not see gratitude for the first 20% of the work, but once introduced, it holds a firm place as a dynamic tool for success.

I note that it always quickens my results when I use gratitude. It is also important to mention that appreciation for the little stuff is equally important. Gratitude for the little stuff helps us turn the seeds of our habits into hearty growing plants. We must be grateful for the little successes to ensure our old established habits can continue any progress we make on the changes we want to see develop.

Gratitude is also a quality of the best bosses. A good mix of constructive criticism and praise makes the broth taste much better. Little things can make a big difference. Talking about going to sleep in a grateful state of mind by thanking God for the rest and recovery we are about to take part in seems small to some. Yet, have a sleepless night and then struggle through your exhausted, over-caffeinated, jittery, and stressed day. Properly preparing for sleep takes on a little more significance after that experience, and a grateful state of mind is part of that for me.

Gratitude and Mindfulness

In addition to good sleep preparation, gratitude is used in almost every mindfulness technique I employ. It’s pretty simple. Being stressed or negative in a grateful state of mind is practically impossible.

Our book suggests making gratitude a daily habit. So, how can we do this on a practical level? First, put it on your to-do list. Next, create an anchor or a mental memory device to help you. Something or some way you will remember. I always started my day in my office at home. I would put any new habit on a small notebook paper and set it in my right pocket. The same pocket I would keep my keys. I would come upstairs with my coffee in hand and see the note. Then I put it in my pocket, and it would remind me every time I went into that pocket. There are countless ways to create an anchor for starting this new habit. You can make an alert on your phone. You can schedule an email to yourself at a particular time. You can put it in your calendar phone app. The ways are countless.

Creating the Habit of Gratitude

So, what are we anchoring? A system to start becoming grateful. A system to create a new habit

The system is to thank your higher power at least five times before lunch, and one of those five should be to a fellow human being. At lunch, please take a minute to review the five events and connect them with thankfulness for the day. Remember what we said in the book. When creating a habit, win the day. Then, string seven good days together for an intense week. String four intense weeks together for a great month. And so on. If you do this with the gratitude system in play, you will start rejoicing for each day as a gift from God.

You may also get the added benefit of living in the moment more. Living less in your head and more in the present. That is always good for our stress level. Expression of thanks is a great kickstart to form the habit of gratitude. Of course, there are other ways you may also enjoy.

Journal your Gratitude

Anyone who has already read Become the Boss of You knows how vital a tool journaling can be. Employing the power of the written word will help shift you toward positivity. It’s like looking at a half-full glass as empty or half-full. One person focuses on the water in the glass and sees it as half full. Another focuses on the air and sees it half empty. Both are correct.

However, let’s take another slant on the half-full vessel. What if the water in the glass represented the blessings you focus on in your life? The air represents the hardships that you concentrate on in life. Both are right, but one life will be much more pleasurable than the other.

Mindfulness

I will be writing another article on mindfulness and gratitude soon. For now, know that as you use the mindfulness techniques, they align with a grateful mind. Whether is id mindful meditation, the breathing technique we talk about in our book, guided breath meditations, exercises to be more present, or relaxation, mindfulness can help us find gratitude. It also works the other way as well. Gratitude helps us with our mindfulness exercises.

Mindfulness and gratitude are not the same, but live in the same neighborhood. Some might say on the same street. They are certainly friends and hang out together often. More to come on mindfulness soon.

The Psalm and Spring

One thing is for sure for me. I like to use spring to get back to basics. I want to spring clean. I enjoy working in the yard. I want to plant from seed. I also use spring and the upcoming Easter season to get my mind back to living this great Psalm’s meaning. Let’s not lose our day. Let’s live our lives to the fullest. Let’s be happy and rejoice in life. A little back-to-basics never hurts.

 Psalm 118:24

“This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.”

Peace, Ishall Dogood

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