SMART Living 365 Recommends You Stay Grateful By Visiting Gratefulness.org

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

         One of the core elements of living SMART 365 is practicing a thankful awareness on a daily basis.  That’s why this week we are recommending Gratefulness.org.  This website offers several touching and free ways to practice gratitude as well as education and support for anyone who wants to use gratitude as a regular spiritual practice.    Just one of the goals of the website and organization is “to promote public awareness of gratefulness as a power for change in areas such as ecology, religious tolerance and intergenerational respect.”   Surely, such a focus on gratitude can benefit each and every one of us every single day.

One of the sweeter practices offered by the website is the Candle Lighting page at: Light A Candle  On this page you are invited to observe several rows of both lit and unlit candles.   You are also welcome to light your own candle as a symbolic expression of   anything you choose.  Obviously some use it to help focus a prayer for another.  Others may use it to express something deep within themselves.  Or, it can be used as a way to represent intentions.  Plus, the candle lighting practice is a good way to feel connected to others who are using the practice to also become more aware.  Try it.  If your unsure what to do—use it as a way to remember one thing today that you are grateful for and go from there.

The website also has a page for what it calls “Gratefulnews” –or good news that can remind you that wonderful things happen each and every day.  This page can be found at : gratefulnews  Feeling down in the dumps?  Then reading some of the posts on this page should help lift your spirits and remind you of the good in the world.

Gratefulness.org also offers uplifting videos, a “word/quote for the day”, an online labyrinth walk, monthly newsletter and a discussion board.  There is a wealth of info offered that make this site a tremendous resource for those of us who are working toward living SMART every day.   During this time of year especially it is easy to get caught up in the idea that we must try to keep up with the expectations of a busy world.  Instead, gratitude slows us down, helps us pause, and then remember how much we have to be grateful for—right here, right now.

“Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton

“Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art….It is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.”  – Joanna Macy

Photo Credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelandrew/