Gratefulness
Meyerson Symphony Center - Dallas, TX
In Larry Senn’s 2017 work “The Mood Elevator”, he discusses our mood shifts like we are on an elevator, and he examines how these shifts impact our relationships, our personal effectiveness, our career and our experience of life. If we want to be at our best more often, we should strive to be on the upper levels of the mood elevator. On the upper levels we make better decisions are a better team member, a better family member and friend because we have better perspective on those levels. Imagine if we could find a way to maintain a daily Grateful perspective. It’s something you probably heard as a kid in the form of, “Count your blessings.”
As a kid, I loved summer breaks from school. My grandmother, who lived in Illinois, would take an Amtrak train to Massachusetts, and spend 2 weeks with us. My sister and I already knew that this meant late nights in her room playing Dominoes, Old Maid and hearing her tell stories. One thing I will never forget is that when it was time for bed, she would always take off her house slippers and slide them under the bed. I was 6 or 7 years old at the time and I never understood this. My sister and I would take our slippers off and put them right beside the bed to make it easy to swing our legs over the side of the bed and slide our feet right into our slippers, without using our hands, when we had to get up. Grandma’s way just seemed much too inconvenient in my young mind. Of course, one night as my sister and I were leaving grandma’s room to go to ours, I had to ask very curiously: “Grandma, why do you slide your slippers under the bed? Don’t you want to be able to just swing your legs over the side of the bed and slide your feet in when you get up in the morning?” She lovingly looked at me and said: “Baby, it’s so when I get up in the morning, I have to get on my knees to get my slippers and that’s when I pray and give thanks for my beautiful grand kids!” That was over 50 years ago, and I have never forgotten that. My grandmother planned time to be Grateful and thankful. Having a Grateful mindset can mean different things for different people. It may mean quieting your mind, journaling, breathing exercises, Yoga, meditation and just making the choice to be Positive, Mindful, and Grateful.
Grandma Louise died in 2006. Now as an adult, I do not wear shoes in my home. However, I keep a pair of house shoes by the door as a constant reminder to be grateful. As I leave my home for the day, I am reminded to be grateful for a night’s rest and the ability to see another day. When I return home, the shoes remind me to be grateful for my safe passage home and for all of the experiences and people that I came in contact with that day.
I am so Grateful for each person and experience that has impacted my life! Each person needs to find their own way in life, and we all make choices about how we see things from moment to moment. Learning how to live more of our life on the upper levels of the mood elevator, especially on the Grateful level, will help us be better team members, get better results and be at our best more often. Try it out. The view is great from up here!
Take care of yourself and each other!
