Running on Gratitude

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.” -Buddha


When I unveiled my great happiness plan my sometime yoga buddy, Patrick Costello (or the Karmic King of the Central Line, as I like to call him) suggested developing an 'attitude of gratitude'.


 I have tried briefly keeping a gratitude journal in the past. It was an iphone app recommended by the mighty Oprah (I just checked my phone for it there, but I now remember deleting it because what I had written made me cringe.) It never really resonated with me. Tapping letters onto a touch screen never helped me experience thankfulness. I'm never sure how well gadgetry and spirituality weld together, probably better with an old fashioned pen and paper.


Anyway I did some research on the topic and scientists have found that keeping a gratitude journal for 3 weeks on a whole made people 25% happier, drink less alcohol and exercise more. So this seems to fit perfectly with my happiness plan. you can read more about the benefits of gratitude here.

And if like me you have experienced a bit of trouble in actually understanding what it means to be grateful and why it is a good attitude to cultivate have a look at this.




So how I am going to fit this into my already bustling schedule? The key is in multi-tasking. Every time I run I will make it into a meditation in gratitude. I will give thanks for my feet and everything else I have in my life. (the bad as well as the good, be just as grateful for the bad shiz because that is when you will truly learn to be thankful)


If being happier is of interest to you I hope that you will visit the two pages I have put in as links (I have trawled through the not so good pages so you don't have to)


Thanks to Pat for the reminder and I thank you for reading this and wonder what you are grateful for today.