Looking for things to be thankful for

Kamál (Perfection), 1 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Monday, January 19, 2009 about 7:44 AM Pacific Time

In the past several months I have made daily entries in my gratitude journal. I am going to continue to make daily entries for the rest of 2009 and then I will decide if I need to continue the entries or I can go back to once a week. The entries consist of at least ten things I am grateful for that day.

The reason I am making daily entries is a combination of stress in my life, my mother's health and the economy. I have found that listing things I am grateful for helps me overcome depression. I cannot be depressed when I have so much to be thankful for.

Learning gratitude is part of spirituality and the process of transformation. I remember growing up, my Grandfather always state at least one thing he was thankful for when he said prayers at meal time. The only time I heard Grandpa pray was at mealtimes. However, I know he said prayers at other times as well. My Grandpa Newland was a spiritual and not a religious man.

Grandpa went to church with us when he could. He never judged other people by their religion. It did not matter to Grandpa what a person's religion was. Spirituality was more important to Grandpa then religion. While a person's religion may influence spirituality, spirituality and religion are not tied to each other. However, I suspect gratitude may have an affect on spirituality.