On this episode of The Alliance Activity podcast, Andy Albright covers the four behaviors of gratitude and how it can help you.
"Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty." --Doris Day
Moral: Once you stop complaining and start being grateful, the light that shines on your life will soften your heart and open your mind; revealing truths that have been hiding from view and leading you toward a richer, more joyful and fulfilling life.
The 4 Behaviors of Gratitude:
1. Show Appreciation (Affirmation and Agreeableness)
2. Practice Indebtedness (Acknowledgment and Conscientiousness)
3. Count Your Blessings (Ready/Willing and Shifting Perspective)
4. Honor the Opportunities (Altruism and Selflessness)
1. Show Appreciation Quote:
"The deepest principle of human nature is to be appreciated." --William James
Moral: If we are honest with ourselves, we all want to feel valued for who we are and recognized for our contributions and accomplishments. It's important for us to know that we have made a difference in someone's life.
1. Show Appreciation
Requires Two Things:
• Affirmation ("Thankfulness" shown as support and encouragement). The sociologist Georg Simmel called this: "The moral memory of mankind." We must recognize the root of goodness from outside ourselves with affirmation in order to maintain the goodness inside ourselves.
• Agreeableness ("Thankfulness" shown with a cooperative and positive nature). Being agreeable is considered to be a subordinate characteristic of those individuals never believing they are owed anything. Note: Studies show that agreeable people are more apt to be grateful people.
2. Practice Indebtedness Quote:
"I believe that if you don't desire a deep sense of purpose from what you do, if you don't come radiantly alive several times a day, if you don't feel deeply grateful at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you, then you are wasting your life. And life is too short to waste." --Srikumar Rao
Moral: It is not the feelings of indebtedness which makes it a virtue. It is the expression of indebtedness through your action, through your repayment, which makes it virtuous.
2. Practice Indebtedness
Requires Two Things:
• Acknowledgment ("Recognition" of fortune). In order for one to master it, you must possess a sense of responsibility and be loyal to what you are validating. This act of paying homage is accomplished by remembering and never forgetting how you arrived at your fortune (from much abundance requires a grateful heart).
• Consciousness ("Recognition" of impact). This implies being dutiful and obligated while retuning a favor. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." In order to recognize the importance of the common act done for you, one must view it for its miraculous impact on your life.
Copyright © 2020 by Andy S Albright Andy S Albright and National Agents Alliance (aka The Alliance) own the copyright to this material. Its intended use is for members of The Alliance. The information is not for public dissemination or use. It is not to be sold or copied in any form.
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3. Count Your Blessings Quote:
"You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. " -- Elizabeth Gilbert
Moral: We don't have to wait for a tragedy before we become willing to shift our perceptions and see with new eyes the beauty we missed before. Basically, see your blessings before you have to count your blessings. See the opportunity before you count the result.
3. Count Your Blessings
Requires Two Things:
• Being Ready and Willing (To see and accept a miracle). It's our task to see a miracle as an opportunity and accept the privilege to live within one. To live at all is miracle enough. The true fortunate ones are those who can marvel in the last break they just took.
• Shifting Our Perspective (From tallying to awareness). Blessings are not meant to be measured or counted. Numbers are for things and blessings are not things. Blessings are sacred gifts. Therefore, "counting your blessings" does not mean tallying them up. Rather, counting your blessings means being aware of their presence.
4. Honor the Opportunities Quote:
"Present opportunities are not to be neglected, they rarely visit us twice." --Voltaire
Moral: The opposite of neglecting is honoring. The best way to honor the rare opportunity, which could change our lot in life, is with a sense of urgency and a promise made. "Urgency" manifests from the perceived importance of the opportunity and its impact moving forward. "Promise" exists within the self-imposing obligation to the opportunity and the obedience to it moving forward.
4. Honor the Opportunities
Requires Two Things:
• Altruism (Exhibiting a helpful nature). Mature and pure intentions come from profound "altruistic" concerns for the welfare of others. Preacher, philosopher and theologian, Jonathan Edwards claimed that finding the altruism inside of us is the most precise way to discover the evidence of God.
• Selflessness (Searching for a way to honor). With a selfless attitude, gratitude transforms into a disposition, which is then one step away from a habit or tendency. This daily practice of gratitude keeps the heart open to looking for ways to honor the privilege to fight the good fight.
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