Gratitude Is A Choice

Gratefulness is essential to a joy-filled and meaningful life.

Gratitude is also the antidote for many ailments in life.

When someone is authentically grateful, gratitude cancels negative emotions like long-term frustration, envy of others, despair, and so much more.

Gratitude stands alone as the way to show appreciation for what we have, not what we don't have.

When you are truly grateful for something or someone, love spreads quickly and transforms lives for the better.

Gratitude is the choice of champions and championship teams because teamwork is at its maximum capacity when an attitude of Gratitude is present.

Morale and team cohesiveness are at an all-time high when Gratitude is part of the team DNA.

One Example Of Gratitude From The Archives

I remember almost immediately giving the medal I won in the biggest race of my life to a volunteer who went out of his way to help me in a support role that day.

Being truly grateful for his help, it seemed like a small price to pay.

Giving the volunteer my medal was my way of saying thank you.

This volunteer went out of his way to help me in any way he could in the most meaningful race of my life.

Gratitude takes the focus off of self and places it on others where it belongs.

I was so grateful to that volunteer and his selfless desire to help and serve others that day with no expectation of return.

His selflessness lifted me and others that day so long ago now.

Building extraordinary bridges between people, not walls that separate them, is an outcome of Gratitude.

Gratitude also begets humbleness and helps you focus on what truly matters in a situation. Joy increases as Gratitude takes center stage.

People are more apt to share, encourage, and give for the sake of giving when gratefulness is the norm, not the exception.

Saying thank you from the heart to someone else is sometimes the only compensation people want or need.

Someday, I will write a post on the power of saying a heartfelt thank-you to someone else and how that releases unimaginable commitment to others' well-being.

Gratitude Is Proven To Enhance Relationships

In sports, gratitude is the glue that holds great teams together.

The attitude of Gratitude makes great teammates leaders and keeps morale high.

A grateful heart makes any activity, including sports, more enjoyable.

Not surprisingly, evidence-based studies link Gratitude to extraordinary mental toughness and positive sports performance.

When you are authentically grateful, you are in a positive zone that is hard to describe;  you can feel the joy contained in the moment.

Being grateful for the gifts God gave you is part of the ultimate measure of Gratitude.

How do you cultivate an attitude of Gratitude?

Virtually every spiritual writer, when referencing the Lord, has said in one way or another to count your blessings to cultivate and nurture gratitude in your life.

Said a different way, count the assets you've been given, not your liabilities, to flourish in life.

Counting your blessings improves your attitude, and sometimes nearly instantly, if you are truly grateful for something or someone.

The Story Of The Man Who Thought He Lost Everything

I read a story once about a man who thought he lost everything in life when his business failed.

His mentor said, " Oh, really, you've lost everything, have you?

"Why yes, replied the man."

The mentor asked the man if he still had a wife who loved and cared about him.                                              

"Well, of course, said the man".

What about your kids? Do they still love you asked the mentor?

"Why yes, said the man."

On a roll, the mentor asked: Do you live in an area with economic opportunity?

"Of course, said the man, once again."

Then, the mentor wrote down all the blessings the man still had in his life and gave him a copy of his notes.

"Let's see, your wife loves you, your kids still love you, and you live in an area with great economic opportunities."

"It sure sounds like you haven't lost everything to me said the mentor."

The man agreed and said he had never thought about it that way.

He went on his way and started another business and a new life.

The story's message is to count your blessings consciously when the storms of life come.

Be grateful for what you have and cultivate new activities that bring life to you and others.

Despair is tough; I always respect and do not marginalize what people go through. I've been there too. However, gratitude is the more powerful antidote to transform your situation. 

Count your blessings and watch the good, joy, and love of life return and grow.

Choose gratitude today.

Blessings,

Coach Weber

Philippians 4:13

Picture: In their collegiate running days with different collegiate teams, Anna Brooks-Thomas and Elizabeth Weber were former high school teammates. The gratitude on their faces as former teammates meeting up again says it all.