I decided to practice gratitude after reading the benefits of practising it and making it a part of your everyday life.
I had just been recovering from a serious bout of depression, that took me to very low levels of thinking. I had not suffered depression before and people had usually commented on how I smiled a lot.
But things changed drastically for me and I did not realise I was going into a downward spin until it was too late.
I also had a big void in my life and life does not like a vacuum! It seeks to fill it and not always with great things.
I did not take control and things just got worse and worse. I felt alone, with no one to turn to. I also did not like to let others into my very private thoughts, so others misread me and judged what they saw on the surface.
They were seeing the symptoms, and not the terrible feeling of desperation and not having anywhere to turn to when I needed help.
There was always judgment and that's not helpful when you're on a downhill slide.
Resilience and Gratitude
As I was growing up, I had developed resilience and I reminded myself that I had to believe there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I kept saying that but I really did not believe it.
Although I am not saying that you should not take medication for depression, it was not for me.
I met someone who helped me enormously by supporting me in a very troubled time. He saw things that others did not see so it was easier for him not to judge me.
He knew I was making bad decisions but he also saw through lies leveled at me and my complete burnout. I had no mental strength left.
I could not say 'no' and life was very demanding for me, as well working a very demanding job entailing 3 hours travel a day.
He saw why I was struggling and the candle was burning at both ends, and ready to snuff out!
My Plan to Improve my Mental Wellness with Gratitude
I had learnt with my last job that you need to fill the vacuum in your life.
I started a new job and found that I liked what I was doing. After the demands of the last job, it was a very pleasant change.
So keeping busy with a job I liked was my first step towards better health.
As it was a casual job with an agency, I still had panic attacks on my days off but I then thrust myself into learning to blog, on my days off.
So keeping busy helped me as I did not have time for negative thoughts.
My introduction to gratitude.
While blogging, I came across articles on Gratitude. They really resonated with me!
After a late divorce, and my totally giving up on ever making up the money and house I lost after 28 years of marriage, I knew I had to work hard and gain a reputable name with the agency and schools so I could get a fair amount of work throughout the year.
I started to actively practice gratitude until it became a habit. I read articles and sat down at the end of each workday and thought about what were the positive experiences I had that day.
I wrote them down so they became more concrete.
When working with a troubled student, we made a Gratitude Jar so that we could pull a gratitude strip out, at random, and reflect on what had happened on any particular day.
It's so easy to focus on the one bad thing that may have happened and let it sum up your whole day.
I was happy and smiling again. I became an Ambassador for my agency and was being requested by schools to be their first call when teachers were absent.
I loved working with the kids and did not get involved in work politics. I treated my support workers well and knew how to handle difficult children, with my background in special ed. and autism.
I did things cheerfully!
Yes, finding the little things to be grateful for each day instead of focusing on the negative had a positive effect on my life.
I have been the only casual teacher employed throughout the pandemic on an ongoing basis, and the school has employed me in another capacity when I finished the first placement.
How practising gratitude can help you?
Speaking in general terms, practicing gratitude will:
make you a happier person
have a more positive outlook
improve your relationships
attract success and abundance with the Law of Attraction
A Gratitude Toolkit is an easy way to help you develop the habit of gratitude. It takes 30 days of practice to change the habits of mind.
How Gratitude underlies the Law of Attraction:
When you send out good positive vibes, you attract others effortlessly.
Your thoughts determine your experiences so positive thoughts will attract positive experiences in a person's life and vice versa.
Another fundamental belief in the Law of Attraction:
What you give out, you receive.
I started to sponsor individuals and families in third-world countries. I cannot even measure the happiness that my friends from African countries have given me.
I have a new family and circle of friends that love me very much.
I have sponsored starving widows and their children through the local church during the pandemic. There is a lot of poverty and I'm humbled by their gratitude.
Unfortunately, many African leaders do not pass all the community aid to their communities so I have been able to establish trusting relationships to help them.
A small amount of money goes a long way in third-world countries.
My African friends always show gratitude and humility while living a simple life.
My greatest desire is to meet them and also to seek further ways of helping them.
It is now my primary concern, overriding my work goals.
So, following the Law of Attraction, the mind can translate our thoughts and materialize them into our reality.
So the Law of Attraction does give you the freedom to change and free yourself from self-doubt and worry.
I'm fighting the demons that I picked up after going broke after my divorce and become more proactive and positive in my life's decisions and who I want in my life.
I've learnt that doing the same thing over and over again, will only get the same results-so make sure you're making choices that get you to your vision of where you want to be.
Our choices and actions will create our intended life, in line with our vision of where we want to be.
It's important to visualise what you want and then make the needed effort to get it.
The Law of Attraction can further help you as it can:
improve your money situation
increase your self-confidence
combat anxiety
get fit, lose weight
So you have nothing to lose but everything to gain by practising gratitude and understanding the Law of Attraction.
I have made a Gratitude Bundle to start your journey to a better life, with more confidence and happiness.
Please feel free to share your journey below too!
Life is not smooth sailing and sometimes it's community that gets us through- our tribe.
Today, I would like to practice gratitude towards people who have, in some way or other, left a favorable impression on me and remember them with fondness.
Those who may have shown kindness, integrity, or gone the extra mile for me.
Gratitude for my dad
My dad-the hardest thing is to limit dad to a few short paragraphs! An incredible man who loved his family and community.
After his death, all the Hungarian clubs in Victoria that mushroomed from the first club he started, stood for 5 minutes silence in his honour, even though he had been off the scene for more than 30 years when he died at 86.
He left Europe to give us a better life and built a tiny bungalow for us to live in while he built our first brick home.
He was responsible for bringing out all our family, giving them free board and food until they could be independent.
The words 'nuclear family' meant nothing to us as we were always surrounded by a huge family, as well as community.
Dad also helped other young men and couples who migrated to Australia. They were always included in family outings and our combi van was always full of people and food.
He built up small businesses as a greengrocer and had a thriving fish and chips business. His days started mostly at 3.30 am to go to the market and home at 6pm.
He was a homing pigeon and always happy to be home, but sometimes did visit his brothers' families who lived in the same street or area, most of the time.
He never charged the family for food they took from our shops.
As the family did not have cars in the early days, he would do the rounds and pick up all my cousins and drive us to school.
He never complained about being tired, and when we were old enough to go out to functions, he would eat, have a shower and get ready to take us out and wait around somewhere until it was time to pick us up after parties, etc.
He always knew how to cut costs but give people a great feed. In his fish and chips business, he made his own fish cakes and they were so popular.
On Fridays, I had to help as the shop was bulging at the seams with people and the cue went outside the door and down the side street alongside our side fence.
We had two fish and chips shops on either side of us, just a short distance away- empty, of course!
Later in life, he became a real estate agent. I remember a time when the interest rates were very high in the 1970/80's and it was common for young couples to get second mortgages on top of a first mortgage.
A young couple wanted to buy a house from dad but he refused to sell it to them as he looked over their finances, and said that a second mortgage would ultimately lead them to lose their house and put pressure on their marriage.
The bank had okayed them for the two loans, as they did in those days!
There is so much more to dad, but the loveliest memory was when he would take mum to the station to go to work in the early morning.
I would hear a clatter in the kitchen and he would bring me breakfast in bed, with a cup of coffee and a rose in a small vase. He always said 'a rose for a rose.'
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Mostly, and unfortunately, the majority of my teachers were stressed, mean, or just interested in getting information across.
The teachers that I have fond memories of were those who were able to get off their pulpits and show kindness and have a little 1:1 moment while teaching.
Just reading what I have written, I wonder why I actually liked school!
My Grade 6 teacher
She was a nun and the kindest one in my four years at catholic school. Nuns could be tough ladies!
I don't remember her hitting us, as part of normal practise at the time, when they were annoyed at someone's antics.
Often, the whole class copped it so we would get angry at the culprit and put peer pressure on him( yes, it was always a 'him').
My family went overseas for three months so she would sit with me every day, before we went, and taught me what I needed to learn.
Looking back, I would have done well with homeschooling as I was a quick learner and enjoyed the 1:1 sessions.
Mr. Pavlov
Mr. Pavlov was a Russian teacher who was a mixture of strictness but funny! He could get angry but no one was really scared of him.
If the boys got on his nerves, he called them 'potatoes' and they knew they were out of line.
I remember his kindness- when he roved the classroom, he always spoke kindly to me and asked me how I was going.
I was not backward in maths but I certainly was not super confident.
If he thought I wasn't sure of something, he explained the concept quietly at my desk and he always got his message through easily.
Mr. Kuhne
Another maths. teacher who struck terror in us all!
Everything was black and white and there were no excuses.
He told us the rules on the first day and stuck to them.
He took a lineup area and everyone rushed to be on time as even talking to a Principal etc was no excuse- you just had to be lined up on time.
What a nice surprise to find how patient he was on a 1:1 basis, and he made maths so easy to understand that I actually enjoyed it.
He was kind on a 1:1 basis and was patient with students who needed some support.
He just did not tolerate rudeness and those who wasted time in class.
Mr. Jones
My art teacher who was just a nice guy. You did not have to be good at art, just enjoy it. He was one of the only teachers, in that era, who allowed us to stay inside at lunchtime.
Miss Simpson
My English teacher for both English and English Literature. When I was a teenager, a lot of learning was 'chalk and talk', with copying from the board or answering questions on paper.
I remember being very upset as Miss Simpson would come in, sit on top of a desk, and just talk or fire questions at us. I was so concerned that my exercise books were empty!
She was encouraging us to think and talk, express our views. Our results were phenomenal- with the majority of our class receiving A's in our final year. This enabled me to get into the college of my choice.
Miss Helen Welsh
Vice-principal at one of the schools where I do a substantial amount of casual teaching.
Helen has been so kind and this has enabled me to have lots of work, especially working in the grade 1/2/3 area.
She has respect for my experience and, as she asks for me by name when she rings the agency, she has given me a high profile as the agency has said that I am the only teacher that is requested by name!
I am now an ambassador for the agency.
Rahul and Sheetal
The parents of two young students who I tutor, they are doctors and lead a very busy life as they are on call.
They tell me how they appreciate how I teach their children and asked, this past Christmas, if I would mind if they gave me a raise in pay!
The resident doctor who saved my life.
I was five months pregnant and was taken to hospital with appendicitis.
I had a high pain threshold but I remember the incredible pain. I was taken in about 9 pm and they were waiting for a doctor to arrive- a Mr., not just a DR.!
Well, he just didn't arrive and they had to keep changing the time of my operation.
Finally, he arrived and it was about 2.30 pm next day that I was taken into theatre. By that time, my appendix had burst and the pain was escalating and I just wanted to escape the incredible pain.
The nurses said, with glints in their eyes, how lucky I was to have this doctor operating on me.
Well- Mr. arrived! He walked into the theatre (I was still conscious) and walked over to the nurses where there was a bit of giggling going on. Not even a look at me.
The last thing I remember was the resident doctor being very angry and shouting to others to get me ready for the operation as I was in a bad way.
Well, that week I had round-the-clock checks every 10 minutes. I remember not being able to open my eyes at one point but hearing what was going on around me.
I remember a very high level of pain. I just wanted the pain to end.
I remember feeling that I could just slip away and then, feeling so scared that I could die, I talked myself into positive thinking mode- you will survive, the team in hospital will look after you etc.
When I left the hospital, the matron and the doctor talked to me separately and said that I had been so ill that it was a miracle that I was still alive.
They actually used the word 'miracle'. So the feeling I had that I could pass on was real!
They also said that there was no word to describe my baby surviving the operation and my subsequent level of illness. They had expected both of us to die. Yes, they actually said 'die'.
My friend, Rob!
My friend who has stuck by me when I went through a bad depression and was close to a breakdown after my dad died and the family went to pieces.
He was there holding my hand when the doctor and nurse were trying to get my heartbeat back to normal, as they said I was having a heart attack, stress-induced.
He never judged me and understood what I was going through.
Who are you grateful for? Who are your 'standout' people that left their mark on you? I'd love you to share your memory with me.
