The Gratitude Diet by Barbara Quinn

About this time, many of us start thinking about growing a little heavier from all those parties and holiday treats. I recommend going on a gratitude diet. It won't make the scale move, but it will allow you to feel lighter.

Like dieting, being grateful is not easy and sometimes it’s really hard to stick with it. I am not the most awake, focused or ready to talk in the mornings. But at the start of the day, when I visit this site, the words here help me adjust my attitude of gratitude. Those words, and a strong cup of tea, get me going in the morning, and suddenly I make the decision to be happy, to be grateful. My whole body feels lighter.

I learned that it is worth the fight to have a steady diet of gratitude. I am a better, healthier person when I am ingesting doses of gratitude. If I am giving thanks, I am thinking about all that I have, about all the good that does surround me. That brings me into the present moment. Gratitude is a welcome vitamin for the soul. It calms the fear of what might be. Most of the time what might be does not come to pass, and when it does, there isn’t much I can do about it. In addition, by dispensing doses of gratitude to others, I find I can stay in the ever calming present. And when I am present I feel lighter.

Part of the gratitude diet involves exercise. Like working out, it takes effort to work up a sweat of gratitude, takes effort to bring a positive attitude to the worst of situations. I grieve, and suffer loss, but I can help myself to to heal by doing good deeds, by reminding myself of all for which I am grateful, by stepping back and expressing gratitude in the midst of an angry conversation. I feel lighter.The diet is working.

Good luck with your gratitude diets. The tastiest parts of mine include being grateful for the people who listen and help me through. And a special treat is being grateful for all my fellow yoggers. They have been dedicated to this project and I’ve benefited from their delcious words, and for their indulgence in my half-baked ramblings. By penning these gratitude posts, and working with my fellow Yoggers, my life has been immeasurably enriched and lightened. I’m also grateful for the authors who have taken the time to dispense doses of gratitude in these pages. And most of all, I’m grateful for you readers who are touched by end enjoy our words. We thank you! Good luck with your efforts to grow lighter!