How to Use Gratitude to Bust-a-New Attitude!

Recently, one of my mentees was having a really difficult time at work. The circumstances around her were leaving her feeling unappreciated, overwhelmed, disappointed and ready to throw in the towel.

Several weeks went by and I patiently listened and gave advice when asked. However, as the weeks passed she grew more and more stressed. Her tone of voice and language were so tightly wound they were practically standing at attention. Finally, 2 weeks ago I said to her "I want you to try a little gratitude and throw in some blessings." She looked at me with her eyebrows raised high as I went on to explain myself further. I asked her to agree to practice gratitude and blessing for two weeks. Each day at work she had to select someone and give them a handwritten note of appreciation. She also had to speak good blessings for her workplace and all of the people who worked there. She agreed to give it a try with her parting words "We'll see..."

Over the past week and a half I didn't hear a peep about how things were going, and then on th 8th day she tells me that everything in her office magically turned around. It turns out that unbeknownst to her, the main manager who had been making her life so miserable was days away from being fired and actually came to her admitting that she could have worked harder to build a partnership on their mutual project. And, one of her projects that was in need of a strong partner received the backing of another manager and now has the participants it needs.

Best of all, she reported that the persons that she'd given the appreciation cards to stopped by her office on the following day to tell her that the cards really meant a lot to them. She thanked me and called the exercise/challenge "Good stuff!"

So, the next time you're facing a really challenging situation apply a little gratitude and blessings and watch as the tides change direction!

written by Denise J. Hart, Creativity Life Coach known as The Motivated Mindset Coach. Denise is also the founder & Executive Director of The Performing Arts Training Studio located in WDC. Denise believes that ultimately our desire to discover our innate unique Mojo flow is all about experiencing MOre JOy! Visit her blog at www.motivationmama.com

How has adopting an attitude of gratitude improved your relationships?