Gratitude: Path to Greater Abundance

Ernest Holmes, Founder of the Science of Mind philosophy, called gratitude “the motive power which attracts and magnifies the hidden potentialities of life.” In life, we often give thanks after receiving something good, but this principle that Holmes refers to suggests that gratitude actually helps create and attract the good we want in our lives. It therefore calls on us to give thanks first, before receiving the good.

While one may think “I’ll be grateful when I have more,” perhaps it is the opposite, that one will have more when one is more grateful for what is already had.

One minister of the Science of Mind teaching would remark, upon seeing someone taking very good care of a modest home, “that person will soon have a more elaborate home,” if they want it. When we give thanks for what we have we place ourselves in the consciousness of abundance.

Another New Thought teacher gave the counter example of someone who picks up a new suit from the dry cleaners and then, while looking at the sparkling suit, notices a little speck and gets upset about the speck. It is easy in life for our attention to go toward what is not working. Of course, with the law of attraction, if our attention is on our complaints, we expand our experience of things about which to complain.

Personally, in 1994 I was laid off from a company. On the day that we were told our department was being dissolved, those of us affected were brought into a room with a human resources staff member. She told us she knew how we felt and that we must be devastated. While perhaps I did feel a little rattled by the news, I found myself blurting out “no, I feel relieved.” After all, it had been a very dysfunctional company that many of us did not enjoy. I decided to be grateful for being set free.

As a result, I ended up taking the most amazing trip of my life just a few weeks later. The opportunity presented itself for me to travel to South Africa to witness the first fully democratic elections in the country with Nelson Mandela being elected President. After the election, there was a ceremony that literally allowed me to witness the birth of a new country. I stood there in awe as the old flag was lowered, and the flag of the new country was raised.

An Estonian proverb says “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” Gratitude is a now thing, rather than something we experience when something good happens. Gratitude is a state of being that not only allows us to fully experience and appreciate each moment, but it also expands our capacity to attract more good in our lives.

When we realize that, ultimately, all things work together for our good, and then we remember the creative power of gratitude, we can even give thanks when things don’t seem to be going well.

The invitation today is to realize and remember all for which we have to be grateful, to give thanks moment by moment, and to live in a state of gratitude. Oh, and watch how this enhances our lives!

Enjoy the journey.