Demonstrate Gratitude and Embrace Thankfulness

To increase effectiveness in our professional and personal life we should demonstrate gratitude and embrace thankfulness.

This month gives us extra encouragement to celebrate. Let’s take advantage!! Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. If your country does not celebrate Thanksgiving, that should not be a reason not to participate in celebrating such positive emotions.

Why I am thankful and grateful:

I am grateful to have my loving wife Kathy by my side. Ten years ago we experienced some difficult unexpected challenges listed below that altered our life’s plans forever.

• Suddenly going into a coma for 3 months, after awakening finding out I had completely lost all vision.

• Going through multiple surgeries and painful procedures during a 7 month hospitalization to save my life.

• Being told I would never walk again.

• Owing the hospital and doctors many thousands of US dollars, accumulated after I lost my medical insurance.

With the above seemingly difficulties and challenges I have a lot of gratitude and thankfulness to celebrate:

• I feel I was the lucky one lying in the hospital bed during my 7 month hospitalization. I cannot envision how difficult it must have been to be my wife looking at me with many tubes in me, on a ventilator, wondering each day during my 3 month coma, and more months after until I was out of Intensive Care if I would live or die.

• Having Kathy to help me with everything when I first got home from hospital; loosing over one-third of my body weight, new to being blind, no medical insurance, inability to walk; or even sit up in bed required a substantial amount of assistance, time and care.

• Having Kathy to take care of our pets and everything around the home I used to help with enabling me to recover and put my full energy, drive and passion into engaging in physical therapy and re-skilling myself.

• Having my wife as my partner to share and learn together how we would adjust our lives’ to live our new life we were blessed with.

• Ability to be grateful and accept life’s challenges, not waiting for external encouragement. Ability to move on and learn how to walk again, learn essential blind skills and successfully returned to work as a productive employee in just less than one year after going into my coma.

• Was blessed to be given real life lessons to learn from, enabling me to increase effectiveness in my professional and personal life.

I could not have had the time to devote my full attention to the re-skilling needed to obtain my strength and so many new skills so quickly without the support of my loving wife Kathy. I am also very grateful for family, friends, and co-workers that provided valuable support and help when I got home from the hospital. I am grateful for all the dedicated doctors, nurses, therapists, volunteers, Nuns and Chaplains at the Catholic hospital I called my home for the majority of 1999.

I plan on celebrating gratitude and thankfulness with my family and friends. I will also reflect on past challenges and successes. I will remember back to when I was fortunate enough to smell turkey and all trimmings lofting through the air as I celebrated Thanksgiving 1999 in the hospital. I am very grateful that by November 1999 I did not have a feeding tube, was able to eat solid foods and enjoy my turkey dinner. I’ll re-live in my mind, the simple successes, like when I was first able to go outside by myself in my new constant blackness, feel the fresh air blowing against my face, smell the trees and flowers and experience the freedom from my hospital bed. Developing an attitude of sincere gratitude for your current blessings unleashes the power for receiving many more.

Some of you might have read about a few of my past challenges from my other blog posts. I feel re-living difficulties, humbly stating and graciously accepting will strengthen gratitude and thankfulness. . I will not forget people who are less fortunate than me and are experiencing challenges and can use our thoughts and prayers.

I am not beyond learning by any means. That is why I reach out to all of you to allow me to learn how to best keep thankfulness and gratitude in my actions. What do you have to be thankful for? How will you celebrate thankfulness and gratitude this Thanksgiving Day? Do you have any examples of how thankfulness and gratitude has benefitted you and others?

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Comments

[kevin]

Hi Bill,

I've found an interesting correlation in between the extent of appreciate I feel for what I have and the amount of _additional_ goodness that seems to flow into my life almost as a result of simply giving thanks.

Appreciating what I have also just makes me feel better.

Thanks for a great post. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

--Kevin

[Guy Tiphane]

Happy Thanksgiving, Bill! Thank you for making a difference in my life!
Guy

[Eric Hellman]

A powerful story, Bill... Thanks for reminding me of the power of our spirit-- and to remember to be thankful. - Eric

[debbe kennedy]

Very moving story that puts life in perspective. How you've lived your life, Bill, is a role model for us all. Thank you.
Debbe

[Cristi Dunne]

Bill,
Your an inspiration! I am very fortunate to part of your and Kathy's life! Thank You!

Cristi Dunne

[Barb]

My Dad always told me the measure of a person's proven character was expressed in the ability to accept and overcome adversity. Your gratefulness is inspirational, Bill.

[debbe kennedy]

Happy Thanksgiving, Bill and Kathy!!!
Love, Debbe