For those of my readers based in the States, assuming you are reading this on the day it is published, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. A day on which, naturally, we express our gratitude.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about expressing gratitude, but if you are not actually grateful that is not possible to do. Even if you think you are grateful, you may well find that there are many things for which you should be grateful but are not. If you are not grateful for absolutely everything and everyone in your life, then you still have some work to do! So today I want to explore gratitude more fully and link it to what I call "the law of polarity".
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about expressing gratitude, but if you are not actually grateful that is not possible to do. Even if you think you are grateful, you may well find that there are many things for which you should be grateful but are not. If you are not grateful for absolutely everything and everyone in your life, then you still have some work to do! So today I want to explore gratitude more fully and link it to what I call "the law of polarity".
Some people list all the things that are wrong in their life and then more or less say "look at that list and tell me why I should be grateful!" Those are people who have clearly not heard of the law of polarity. This law says that everything has two equal and polar opposite sides. Every situation that looks so bad has an equal measure of good if only you will look for it.
If you truly understand the law of polarity, this will change your life dramatically.
Everything that happens just “is”. But like two sides of a coin it has one side that seems terrible and another that looks great. You get to pick. You can have the terrible side or the great side. Which will you choose? Whichever you choose, that is what will materialize.
Remind yourself that the universe is friendly to you. There is a limitless supply of everything you require. An infinite supply of money, clients, time, love, friendship, whatever. No circumstances can leave you lacking in these things for long unless that is what you choose – consciously or unconsciously. Don’t focus on the one you have just missed – focus instead on what is coming.
Next, remind yourself that you get to choose what to call the circumstances you are in. You get to decide whether there is good or bad in them. Sometimes it can be very difficult to see the good when you are right in the middle of something that seems so bad, but just understand it really is there.
The worst experiences you have should prove to be the greatest gifts. They are your instructors. Each one bears within it the seed of something that is amazing if you will only be ready to accept it.
Have you seen the film “Front of the Class”? This is the true story of Brad Cohen, a man suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome who becomes a teacher. Others suffering from this condition may have railed against it and asked why it had to be this way. But Brad Cohen viewed his Tourette’s Syndrome as the best teacher he could have, showing him the way to become a very good teacher himself. Brad certainly understands the law of polarity better than most people, and he has used it to great advantage.
Now that you too understand the law of polarity, you should use it to your advantage, just like Brad Cohen.
Begin by taking a sheet of paper and filling it with all the things for which you are grateful. Make certain you have listed at least twenty-five or thirty items and that you have included at least a couple of items from each area of your life. Include your monetary resources, health, career, relationships, recreation and anything else you can add to this list.
Stop right here and do the above before you read any further!
How did you find this exercise? Was it easy? Did you have any trouble making the list long enough? A short list means there are still a lot of things in your life to which you have not yet applied the law of polarity. These are the areas where you do not like things the way they are. So here comes part two of the exercise:
Take another sheet of paper and make a different gratitude list, again covering all the different areas of your life. However, for this list, begin with things you don’t like. The boss with the bad attitude. The car that won’t start. Your ex. Your cantankerous adolescent stepdaughter. The tax man. The pimple on your nose that won’t disappear. The bills that keep arriving.
Now use the law of polarity. Find the other side for each of these items. For example, with the list I suggested in the previous paragraph you might enter the following: Gratitude that you have a job. Gratitude that you have a car. Your fresh insights into relationships. New parenting skills. The money you have received on which you now have to pay tax. A sound body. The advantages of the merchandise and services you have received. Get the idea?
Discover something to be thankful for in each of the items on your list and write it down. Fill the paper with these gratitude assertions.
Again, don’t read any further until you have completed this exercise!
How was that? Did you feel particular resistance to some of the items on this list? Difficulty in finding the good side? These are areas in your life where you particularly need to focus and find the good side, as they are the very areas that are holding you back. Keep working on them until you have prised out those good points. Any time you spend doing this will be well rewarded.
If you want to explore in more depth the law of polarity and the other laws which together allow you to use gratitude to create unlimited abundance, get yourself a copy of my e-book, "Gratitude Now".