An extra-helping of gratitude for your Thanksgiving week
Every week on the RichLife show, we start out with the question, What makes your life rich? The answers that come in cover the gambit from family and friends to football and finance.
Blessings can be big, they can be major, or they can be as simple as good weather.
Why do I love to start the show talking about what makes our life rich? And why is this question so important to ask, not just of others, but of yourself?
When we start with gratitude, we put energy on the things going good in our life. What we put our energy on expands. And this creates favorable conditions to bring more of that into our life.
We think about rich in the context of money, and don’t get me wrong, I hope you have 10 million dollars in the bank – I really do! But in doing this work over the years, I’ve run across too many people who met every financial goal and had the money, yet found they unhappy.
Most people find that if they lose an important relationship or a family member close to them, or even their own health, they would trade all the money in the world to get it back.
I want to make sure you’re doing what you can to utilize your assets and resources. One of the best ways to become a better steward of what you already have is to shift your focus to one of gratitude.
We have a tendency to focus on what’s negative, stressful, and fearful. As a result, we create more of what we don’t want!
I am grateful to all the RichLifer’s everywhere who have shared their blessings with our listeners over the year. In honor of Thanksgiving, we’re serving up an extra helping of gratitude from our hosts, guests, and callers like you who told us their answer to the question, ”What makes your life rich?”
Jon: “Pizza. Once a month me and the boys have pizza night where we make fresh pizza in the house. This time the boys didn’t put peanut butter and jelly on theirs, and we had the flour flying and all sorts of toppings and that’s what makes my life rich.”
Dawn: “Communicating with my husband. We’re communicating so much more about money now and that’s opened our eyes about what needs to change for our retirement. We’re not there yet, but we are making progress.”Michelle: “I’m practicing gratitude for the food in my house and for my paycheck. I normally go to the grocery store every two weeks, but since my girls are at their grandparent’s this week, there’s still plenty of food in house!”Joy: “Football. And football season. And football games.”Carl: “I got to play a show last night at a new place in town called Avocados on the Square, and the whole experience was pretty rich. All my friends came out to hear me play, and that’s one of the things that enriches my life.”Chris: “I was burning the candle at both ends – eating fast food, smoking, not exercising, – and I ended up with a blockage in my heart. I changed a little bit then, but not enough. Found myself a few months later with 3 stints and seven blockages, and I called my friend from the hospital and he introduced me to this Average Joe’s Boot Camp. I started camp at the end of February over a year ago, and it has changed my life. I went off all my medications, dropped 55 pounds, and this morning I ran four miles and did 300 crunches.”Joy: “My husband makes my life rich every day. Running your own business is extremely time consuming, and he’s been so supportive, and not only that, he’s a great dad. One of the best there is. Right up there with my own dad.”Anna: “Surprisingly, I’ve not missed my smart phone or the channels we cancelled on Dish. As a result, we’ve been able to save money for a new, small AC unit for which we paid cash. Yay! Otherwise, we would have been sweating all month.”Dr. Bill: “Networking makes my life rich. When I started my business back in 1997, I made the mistake a lot of people do in thinking I could do it all on my own. What I found out is that the success we’re going to enjoy in our professional life is going to come from other people. When I realized this was going to be the avenue to prosperity, I started embracing it and ended up doing very well.”Jodi: “I have been incredibly blessed to be the coach of the Johnson High School Odyssey of the Mind team. We got second place at state which has advanced us up to the world finals. We had to raise $10,000 to get there, and there have been obstacles, but we are so excited about this great opportunity.”Jon: “Storm tracker radar. We had a tornado last night and my two kids had their bicycle helmets on and were ready to go down to the basement. And I thought, isn’t it great how with the technology, you can hone in and find out if the storm is headed toward your town or even your street? Technology is one of those things that continues to evolve and make my life rich.”David: “Being with my family and friends and my good health makes my life rich.”Tanya: “One thing that shines out is my son with special needs, Conner Mathew. He has really brightened our world, and opened up a lot of blessings. We’ve met so many amazing people with Miracle League and Special Olympics. We see the need to keep him involved and make him feel he has a purpose, and his joy has really spread to others. It also pushes us to be more involved outwardly. Conner really makes you think about what’s important.”
For my part, meeting really amazing people makes my life rich. What comes to mind as a highlight from this year was a client who decided to take up a new instrument when he was almost 70 years old. As a result, he shared with me how at age 78, he is playing bagpipes at funerals, festivals, and community events all over the place!
I love to have this interaction with my clients, to find out what makes your life rich, to share the things that are good, and as a result, create space for more good in our life.
Sages and wise men have been asking for centuries – What makes a man rich? The answer: “The man who rejoices in what they have!”
What are you thankful for? Big or small, I’d love to hear it. May an attitude of gratitude add to your blessings during this Thanksgiving week.
Much Love,
Beau