Program Pam Cohen played a video to introduce our speaker David George Brooks and his message The Power of Gratitude. Brooks, also known as That Gratitude Guy, has been a speaker, coach and bestselling author for over 25 years. He is a former Nordstrom store manager and has managed in the corporate world for over thirty years. His published works include "The Brooker's Daily Gratitude Journal," "Six Word Lessons to Embrace Gratitude," and a number of other books on gratitude. As a result of his passion for gratitude, he has presented over 575 speeches and workshops in the past six years. With over 975 gratitude videos posted on YouTube, thousands have seen his message, and he is now considered a leading authority on how living a life of gratitude can enhance and improve your life. CLICK HERE to visit his website. One of the keys to living a life of gratitude has to do with what you say to yourself about yourself. He recalled being in a race, and whle running across a bridge, there were lots of people ahead of him, but many more behind him. H remembers thinking to himself, "If those people in front of my had stayed home, I'd be in first place!" He said the words we use to describe ourselves are important. He asked all in attendance to list six to eight words describing ourselves. Most tend to call themselves derogatory names. He encouraged us to advocate for ourselves. A key statement that he made more than once was, "Gratitude turns what you have into enough." When you make a list of positive qualities to describe yourself, you need to keep it visual. Gratitude can influence medical outcomes. Positive vs. negative attitudes very often are reflected in positive vs. negative outcomes. At one point in his life, Brooke said he took flying lessons. He remembered his instructor telling him "One day you will be grateful you paid attention and learned to read and trust the instruments." Later, when he was flying in clouds, he felt he was flying straight and level. The instruments told him he was wrong. He trusted the instruments, did a course correction, and truly was grateful for the outcome. We know exercise is important, and walking is one of the best forms of exercise. It is also a good time to work on our attitude of gratitude with the things we talk to ourselves about while we are walking. Brooke says there is science relating to gratitude. - Improved relationships
- better sleep
- better physical health
- lower blood pressure
- less anxiety
Gratitude helps us realign our priorities, and appreciate what we have. He gave everyone homework asking us to list the top 25-50-100 things we are thankful for and to then put the list in priorty order. Look at it, review it, update it regularly, and keep it up. It is good to remind ourselves of the wonderful things that have happened. He encouraged everyone to keep a Gratitude Journal. He has one for sale on his website, but a notebook would work. Editorial note: For some, paying for the journal, would ensure a greater likelihood of actually valuing and using it.
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