My Gratitude Journal Online – Thanksgiving Edition #18

Gratitude Journal works

Happy Thanksgiving! Well, my regular readers may be wondering “It’s not Friday yet, Akemi. . .” I know. I am refreshing the Gratitude Friday series to Gratitude Journal series. It will continue to be posted biweekly, but the posting day may shift slightly, like this. I mean, how can I miss Thanksgiving?

I guess much has been said about Gratitude Journal. But the one thing is you won’t know how it works until you do it. Daily practice is of course ideal, but really, just start anywhere you can. You will be amazed how much peace and joy it can bring to you.

Gratitude is like all-in-one apply-anytime-anywhere medicine. You are afraid of the economic future of yourself and the world? Write (or even just recite) things you have that you are grateful for. You are depressed with the health issues of yourself or tired of taking care of your sick family? Try gratitude and see what happens. You have relationship problem? Do gratitude for yourself and for that person. Etc.

You do have something you can be genuinely grateful for

I started using gratitude consciously when I was getting divorced. Because my immigration application was based on my marriage, this also meant I could be denied and be deported. I was in horrible financial state, too, because he wrote so many checks that he never intended to pay in order to get the money for his drugs.

Because he was in rehab earlier that year, I was introduced to al-anon and was working the twelve steps myself. They teach gratitude there. I remember one summer afternoon when I was sitting at my doorway, feeling totally scared and confused. Things were deteriorating fast to the point that I wasn’t sure about my physical safety.

There was a big maple tree in front of my place that provided nice shade in the summer. It was one of those summer afternoons when things seemed to just sit still in the heat. And I felt calm and safe for a moment. “Right now, in this shade under this tree, I’m safe and okay. Thank you.”

I also thought of many people who were helping me, like the people who gave me ride (I didn’t have a car, so I had to use the bus or ask for a ride to my friends) and people who called me from time to time to see how I was doing. I counted my good health for the gratitude, too.

That was nine years ago. Fast forward, I am legal in the US, I have money in the bank, and I drive Civic. Cool, huh? (I don’t attend those twelve step meetings any more, but I can recommend it to anyone who is new in spirituality and need some peer support.)

The Intention Game

Here is another new feature – the Intention Game – that can help you utilize the Law of Attraction. I will play it, and you are welcome to join anytime. This is the idea:

1. State your intention. It can be something you want to attract or a certain state you want to achieve. It can be small or large.
2. State how you feel. Statement of gratitude is encouraged, including gratitude for things you perceive to be negative.
3. If you notice how negative you are feeling, see if you can start feeling positive.
4. As follow up, we report the results of this game.

It’s a game. Take it easy. Have fun.

The Law of Attraction says there are two way we can check if we are allowing or rejecting what we desire. One is the feeling – if you are feeling good, you are letting the Universe work for you. Another is the results – what you have around you is the result of how you utilized the Law of Attraction, whether positively or negatively. So this Intention Game includes both verification systems.

Here, I’m going to start with very physical, visual items.

1. I want a light green iPod Nano, new Nike sneakers, and some surprise present for the holidays. All or any of them ^_^
2. I feel excited. It will be so much fun to walk around with my new sneakers on and listening to my iPod. To be honest, I’m a bit scared, too. What if they don’t come my way? Well, that is really no big deal, right? This is a game. Oh, and I just remembered something – my local friend told me about Nike outlet in Portland. I haven’t checked it out yet.

I’m grateful for my health. I was watching a small kid at Starbucks yesterday – remember the joy and pride of being on our own two feet? We forget and take things for granted, don’t we? I’m also grateful for the trees and plants. They are like my friends.

. . . after I wrote this, I was flipping through my copy of Living The Law Of Attraction, and am inspired to put out another intention:

I intend to lease option my house in Tennessee. It’s located north of Nashville, off I-65, in a quiet neighborhood with good public schools. It has 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, 2 car garage, bonus room over the garage, and very nice living, dining and kitchen. Large fenced backyard with separate storage. It was built in 1998 but we are painting the whole house, putting in new carpets, staining the deck and resealing the deck and driveway, so it’s like new. I have more to tell you about the beautiful house, like the gas log in the living room, but I’ll keep it brief here.

What is important is I want someone who really appreciate the house, love to live in a great neighborhood, and willing to care for the house like an owner and want to buy the house in a few years. For that kind of tenant who is just not ready to really purchase, I can offer a great program that asks for a fraction of upfront payment compared to the down payment to get a mortgage. So it can be a win-win. The tenant will have two to three years to come up with more money to secure the mortgage later, and I don’t have to be concerned about the house.

Okay, this is it for today. Enjoy your long weekend! (Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

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