attitude of gratitude

Quit thinking. Start thanking.

July 25, 2016 30 Comments

“Love, peace, joy, and harmony are the best vitamins in the universe.”–Philip Arnold

Yesterday on Instagram, I added the #hashtags for the Thank & Grow Rich scavenger hunt. If you’re new to the party, I should probably explain that Thank & Grow Rich is the title of my new book. In it, I offer what I call 27 party games for getting your gratitude on.
And because I think community is SO. DERNED. IMPORTANT. I’ve created a forum and a scavenger hunt for people to share their gratitude “finds.”

I’ve discovered for myself that when I’m in a good place, when I feel joyful, I am better able to respond to events and issues in my life and in the world.

It seems to me that one of the biggest issues many of us in the privileged world face is extreme mind suffering, turning ourselves into pretzels in our heads, being somewhere other than where we are.

And that’s what this book addresses.

To me, holding Truth, raving about possibility, sharing our miracles is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for the whole of mankind.

My vision for the Thank & Grow Rich Community is to come together to celebrate and appreciate this mysterious and beautiful world we inhabit together.

Here’s a short excerpt from the book that will debut next month:

In my quest to “heal myself,” I have been to therapy, analyzed my dreams, gotten rebirthed, written scathing letters to my parents, walked on coals, and read hundreds of self-help books. Maybe thousands.

You’d think I’d be hanging out with Oprah by now. But it wasn’t until I embarked on a simple practice of gratitude that I finally got what I’d been looking for all these years.

The reason I looked down my nose at this practice that, in one way or another, has been around for thousands of years (even the Bible says, “In all things, give thanks”) is because, well, it seemed way too simplistic. Getting “happy” can’t be that easy. Right?

I’d been taught that the only way to “heal myself” was to put in my time, dig up my broken places. I’d been taught that if I gave enough effort, I would eventually someday “get it.” Whatever “it” was.

I tried to think my way out of problems. I tried to analyze what was going wrong.

Little did I realize that all my thinking was a trap, a prison that put me over and over again in solitary confinement.

It wasn’t until I began to actively look around at all my blessings that it dawned on me: Everything is exactly perfect just the way it is. I’m exactly perfect just the way I am.

I call it being on the frequency of joy and gratitude, turning in to the Divine Buzz (D-Buzz.) The Divine Buzz, while known by many other names, is an energetic cha-cha- cha of a force that wants to interact and have fun with you.

In the book that’s subtitled “A 30-Day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy,” I offer a very concrete practice for connecting to the Divine Buzz.

I hope you’ll join us.

Pam Grout is the author of 18 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the about to be released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy.

The Top 5 Perks of Brazen Gratitude

April 22, 2015 17 Comments

“Thank you is the best prayer anyone could ever say.”—Alice Walker

Frequent flyers to this blog already know I’m playfully at work on a new book about the superpower of gratitude. So thought I’d rerun a post from last year on that very topic. Enjoy!

I just finished a story called “Training to Be Superman” for Men’s Journal. It includes six over-the-top endurance competitions for earning your cape. It was fun to write, sorta tongue-in-cheek, but it got me to thinking that of all the superpowers, gratitude is my superpower of choice. And it comes with all kinds of perks. Here are my top five:

1. Gratitude is a magic seed. It starts small, but it grows whatever you’re noticing into a super-size reality. Lettuce seeds are tiny, but they grow into these big green, nourishing leaves. By noticing even one tiny thing you like about an unpleasant situation, you can grow it into a giant green leaf of love.

2. Gratitude improves family relationships. Being happy is contagious and quickly spreads to your inner circle.

3. Gratitude brings you back to ultimate reality. It’s pretty easy to veer off track, to think “life sucks and then you die.” But when you stop for a moment and write a list of things you’re grateful for, you suddenly remember. “Oh, yea! Life is truly sweet.” As Adyashanti reminds us, “Reality is life without our distorting stories, ideas, and beliefs.” And when we’re grateful, those stories, ideas and beliefs don’t stand a chance.

4. Gratitude makes you happy. It makes you want to dance which, for those hoping to lose weight, is a pretty good technique.

5. Gratitude is the perfect superpower for any celebration. And since today is T.G.I.W. (It’s like T.G.I.F for Wednesdays), keep in mind that gratitude is even more potent than a cocktail.

Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the recently-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.