Gratitude

A few weeks ago, I woke up in terrible pain. , Dave took me to the emergency room - I thought it might be a heart attack! My diagnosis was gall bladder, possibly a stone which passed but while whatever was going on, it hurt like crazy until it stopped.

They took such good care of me in triage - had an EKG in less than five minutes of walking through the door. Amazing. And the staff who tended to me were compassionate, efficient and caring. I was so impressed, that I looked up the hospital online, found the chief administrator's name and address and I wrote a nice letter. I mentioned the doctor and the people who took care of me.

And then I forgot about it.

Yesterday I received a letter from that administrator, thanking me for taking the time to send my thoughts to them. He, and the people that tended to me, were so touched by my small token of gratitude.

I guess that people don't take the time any more to say, "Thank you." A quick note to express gratitude doesn't take much time, but how often we let that opportunity pass? Just let someone give us bad service, however, and we are quick to pick up the pen, the phone, the keyboard and tell the world about those good-for-nothing so-and-so's. Right?

This coming year, I'm going to look for every opportunity I can to thank others for touching my life. It's an easy thing to do, and I don't want to be caught up in busy-ness to miss life.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year, with plenty of opportunities to express gratitude. I am grateful to all of you who take the time to visit my website and read this blog.

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change" Wayne Dyer

I've changed how I look at holidays, having just experienced another sane eating Thanksgiving. My past turkey-day revolved around food, food, food. Didn't yours too?



That's not been my experience for the past fifteen plus years. You know that I've lost over one hundred pounds and it has stayed off for thes past fifteen years? It took a change in how I looked at the holidays. No where in Thanksgiving can I find the words food, pigging out, anti-acids or guilt over eating way more than I should have.



Instead I find two words - Thanks and Giving.



I am so grateful for my life today, free from excess weight, free from the obsession with food. I am so thankful for the blessings in my life today that have nothing to do with how much stuffing I can force down, or how many different pies I can sample. Nope, I'm instead thankful for my wonderful family, friends and the joy of living.



What is the secret to making it through the holidays without having to replace my entire wardrobe? I have found three rules which when applied, guarantee success! I'll share them with you.



The first one is GIVE! Just like the holiday, when I am grateful and giving (Thanksgiving), my focus shifts from food to those around me who may not be as fortunate as I. We went shopping on black Friday. yeah, I know, I'm crazy, but we found such bargains and these gifts will go to the children who's names are on the holiday trees at church, the grocery store and our local Chamber of Commerce. It makes me feel so good to give. Doesn't it you too?



The second rule is ...

Give!

I just find that you cannot be too generous. Whatever I give away, I seem to get back one-hundred fold, really. I am giving away a great tele-workshop to people who are interested in making it through these holidays without gaining all the weight of past holidays. If you are interested in joining us, it starts on December 9th, at 8:00 p.m. Three of my wonderful coach and author friends will be joining me and what a great support group it will be. Hey, if you want to join us, send me an email to lifecoachgerri@aol.com, because the group size will be limited so that all the participants will get individual attention.



Okay, I bet by now you've guessed the third rule.

Give.
The more you give, the more you'll get.
It works.