Gratitude

I’m sure this week no matter what blog you go to you will see someone mention the upcoming holiday …ok so maybe a few will be talking about the new Breaking Dawn movie…or even some of the fantastic new releases, but never the less you will see a reflection of the season we are in. So, I thought why not I have a lot to be grateful for – let me take some time to reflect on those wonderful things in my life and the world around me.

There is no doubt that in the world we all live in that being thankful at times is hard. Often we find ourselves bracing for the next tragedy or expecting something to destroy even the best laid plans. We are conditioned to do so. The news, internet and every source of information often broadcast our darkest moments and not our brightest so inevitable we look for the bad – not the good in our beautiful existence.

I find myself avoiding the news – negative people, simply because my imagination is fierce and without the slightest effort I’m able to feel the loss, fears, and heartbreaks that are broadcasted before me. I wasn’t always like this – at one time I would face the worlds troubles head on – even seek out the news and talk to my family and friends about it – worry about a future I had no control over, but then something changed – what I like to call a marked moment in my life.

Sometime around the early part of 2009 I was on cloud nine. I had not only discovered how to write my daydreams into life, but I had shared the first drafts of my work with a few of my friends. Their positive feedback for this inconceivable talent I’d discovered only fueled my daydreams further – I dreamed big every day, not only of the story I was creating but to where I wanted it to take my life – my career.

One day I was working with someone I had not known long but felt comfortable enough to talk about my ‘side project’ of writing. As the day went on she would encourage me and played into the day dreams of my future. Then as I said a random remark she looked at me and said “Have you read the Secret” at that time I had been reading and watching countless documentaries on energy, lost myths, scientific theories and I thought the ‘secret’ was one of those possible researching outlets. I told her no and as our conversation moved on she asked me again if I was sure that I had not read that book. I grinned and told her I hadn’t then promised I would. She left for lunch not long after that and returned with a DVD. When she handed it to me she told it was not as good as the book, but it would definitely help on the path I was on. I eagerly took it and could not wait to see it that night.

Needless to say my husband was not excited to see me taking over movie night to watch another documentary, but he gave into me anyways and on a Friday night we curled up on the couch and played the DVD titled “The Secret”. The moment the DVD began we were both captivated. For those of you who are not familiar with Rhonda Byrne’s book the Secret I’ll sum it up for – basically the secret to life is us – our thoughts - that we attract everything to us by the simple act of thinking. I know it sounds farfetched especially if you have had hard life – or even a dim life like my childhood would reflect, but the ideas and quotes I heard and watched gave me a new perspective on my life.

When it was over I was not surprised the girl, who is now one of my best friends, had thought I already knew this secret – I’d already begun to practice the elements of this theory without even knowing it. One of the core points behind Rhonda’s book is gratitude and emotion, the theory is that when you have a strong emotion you call more things that will reflect that emotion to you. Gratitude and love are strongest and most positive emotions – and at times the hardest to hold on to. I was so grateful for my story – for how I felt about discovering writing that I beamed with joy. Everywhere I looked I found more ideas to weave in, I heard and saw things that constantly reminded me of how grateful I was and intern I kept finding more and more reasons to be happy.

Everyone who knew me at that time – the ones that knew the old Jamie were quiet stunned by my new approach to life. They kept waiting for the fierce business woman –the strict mom, hard core person I was to surface again, but I’d left that Jamie behind and vowed to never go back to that person.

The secret is not a magic book that can transform your life by any means. In fact is quiet easy to forget what you thought you had grasped – I mean it really is hard to be constantly happy all the time, but what is amazing about forgetting the ‘secret’- is remembering it again – to realize that your negative thoughts are pulling you down and that all you have to do is focus on one positive and be grateful for it then find another positive point, then another until you reach that ‘cloud nine’ feeling once again.

One of the things I heard one of the speakers say on that DVD was that each night as you lay head down think of everything you are grateful for that day no matter how simple it was, and when you think of the things that did go wrong or made you feel a negative emotion imagine it differently – imagine the outcome you would want. In the morning do the same before you rise - think of everything that brings you joy and feel – really feel that gratitude deep in your soul – then daydream how you want your day to go. I do my very best to practice this each night and each morning, and when I do it correctly I find myself having a wonderful day – the way I look at my husband, my children – everyone and everything my life is full of a positive emotion. I’m grateful for where I am in my life, the past that lead me here, and the future that is beyond my wildest dreams.

This week in America we have marked one of the 365 days of the year to be grateful (only one - kind of funny when you think about it!) Some of you may be dreading spending time with your family, others maybe excited – and then there are those of us that are focused on the insane shopping we are going to be doing on retails classic ‘black Friday’, but I want to ask all of you to take a moment not only on Thanksgiving, but every day of your life and find the emotion of gratitude, even if that moment is fleeting and hard to grasp and hold on to it – and be prepared for more to come. I’m grateful for begin married to my soul-mate, for the beautiful children he gave me, our warm home, the laughter that echoes within these walls. I’m grateful for the friends I have been blessed to know. I’m grateful for my characters – the way the changed my life, and I’m grateful for my readers because they bringing nothing but bliss into my life when they step into my imagination with me. What are you grateful for today??