Throughout the years there have been many times I needed to “rewrite” my story. I mean to say, change my direction. You see there have been times I have been off track and running on autopilot. I didn’t feel fulfilled or that I was improving myself. I recently rewrote my story.
I have always loved writing. I have written children’s books that I never published. I have had aspirations of sitting on a secluded island with no phones or internet and just writing for days on end. I never did that. My children’s books still sit in folders, typed on yellowing paper with words crossed out. I had every intention of publishing them this year but listened to so many people who said it was too hard to get published and it was expensive. I left them in their folders, untouched. This was a mistake listening to others.
A few weeks back I was sitting in my office struggling to get my work done when a divine inspiration struck me like a freight train. I mean God really wanted my attention. I felt a rush come over me to start a blog on gratitude. A rush that was so compelling I couldn’t ignore it.
A blog on gratitude? I practice gratitude, I preach gratitude and I guide others on how to practice gratitude but I have never and I mean ever thought to blog about it. That would put me in front of the public. I would share my most inner thoughts. I could be scrutinized. The fear lasted for a millisecond and then I searched the internet for a blog site. The next thing I knew was I was registering myself for a website to post blogs and developing a gratitude blog.
Holy moly, the next thing I knew I was pouring my heart out on a computer screen. I wrote about how I practiced gratitude. I told about all my private moments of praying, meditating, holding my gratitude stone…..oh my it all came out! With each stroke of a key my thoughts became clear. My energy level increased. This felt so right. How could I possible go from knowing nothing about a blog (I had never even read a blog) to writing one? There was only one answer. God put it in my heart and He had a plan.
I am now blogging twice a week. I don’t plan my blogs, I just wait to see what hits me when I open my laptop. God always guides me on what to write. He truly inspires me.
After I completed the blog site I thought I would set up a Facebook page to let my friends and anyone I could reach know that I now had a blog. I simply named the page Grateful Gratitude and posted a description of the blog and how to get to it. I decided on my first post to this brand new Facebook page. It was a simple post. It was a few basic words. It said, “I pray that God will use me to change lives.” Very simple but from my heart and exactly how I felt.
I monitored the Facebook page for a few days when I reached out to my friend that I consider a social media expert. I asked him if he had some time to look at my blog over a cup of coffee. He is one of the people I have added to my mastermind group. Side note, if you don’t know, a mastermind group is a group of people who you consider brighter and smarter than you in a particular field. You should always add to your mastermind group so you are contantly learning and improving. He agreed to meet me.
When I met Aaron at the coffee shop, I asked him if he would look at my stats for my blog and Facebook page. I mentioned to him I thought one of my posts on Facebook had reached about 19,000 people. He immediately told me to pull it up on my laptop. I wasn’t sure if he thought I misread a number or just wanted to see the post for himself. He looked at my computer and said, “That’s amazing, you have reached over 19,000 people and you have 396 LIKES and 56 SHARES.” I know Aaron well enough that these were very good results. He reinforced to me this must be my calling because the LIKES and SHARES were so quick. It had only been a short period of time since starting this new journey.
That particular post has now reached over 43,105 people, obtained 1,100 LIKES (if you have read my other blog posts you will know that number is a very special number for me) and had 399 SHARES. This has only been up for 3 weeks total as of today. I am not telling these stats to brag but to honestly show that God is telling me the world needs Him and His love and I can be a support in getting His Word out to others.
A few days after I posted that first blog and put up that Facebook post another friend approached me. This friend has a company that produces podcast. He offered to help me develop another platform for Grateful Gratitude through podcasts. A podcast, me? Again I felt that push and comfort from above and I am pleased to say we completed our first three podcasts yesterday. They will be available in a few days for the whole world to hear just look for Grateful Gratitude in iTunes.
Let’s just recap. I was minding my business when God hit me with a lightning bolt that put me in a whirlwind for the last three weeks. First a blog, then a new very successful Facebook page followed up by my own podcast. What next? Well I have been approached again by another friend. This friend will be training me next month to become a certified trainer. That right, my friend is a life coach certified in training others. What will I be certified in? Gratitude of course! I will be a Certified Gratitude Coach. Maybe the first ever certified coach specializing in guiding other to practice gratitude for a happier and more abundant life.
I guess the main premise of this blog is to tell you that you never know where or when opportunity is going to appear in your life. If you feel something in your heart or your gut, know that is God saying that He has a purpose for you. Be still and listen. Don’t worry if it appears to be totally different than what you envision, breathe in the possibilities and grow.
By practicing gratitude every day your will feel uplifted. You will find negativity floats away from you. Good things and opportunities constantly happen because you are expressing God’s love through appreciation. Give every person you see a smile. It is natural for others to smile back when smiled at. You will have brighten their day. If someone waits on you in a store or restaurant, tell them sincerely “thank you” when you pay and make eye contact. Acknowledge them! If someone says they are having a bad day, turn it around and give them a compliment. Find one thing, their outfit, their new car or maybe their iWatch and say you like it. Be honest and compliment them with enthusiasm. You will be practicing gratitude in the simplest way and if you do it enough it will become a habit. You will naturally smile and say thank you to everyone. A smile will just reside on your face all the time.
I am so grateful and blessed you are reading this. You have improved my life by taking the time to be on this page reading my words. We all have a limited amount of time on this earth and you have touched me by being here. I wish you love, peace, blessings an a life filled with gratitude.
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” ― Jim Rohn
gratefulgratitude.net 