Van Beek: Attitude of gratitude
With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are prompted to think about the many things for which we are grateful. Living in our wonderful mountain community, we are blessed more than most.
While each of us has had different experiences throughout the year, and some have had more challenges than expected, we are still more blessed than most of the people on this earth.
Dr. Seuss said it best …
“When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad, you should do what I do. Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky! Some people are much more … or, ever so much more … oh, muchly much-much more, unlucky than you!”
As we stress about local and global events, let’s keep in mind that things appear so much worse when you focus on the bad and ignore the good. And, while we can’t always control what goes on around us, we have absolute control over how we react.
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Thinking positively, from a position of gratitude for what has gone right, is a habit that provides the opportunity for solutions to surface in the foreground. You can’t see ahead if you are only looking behind. Gratitude is the gateway to peace and happiness.
Throughout the ages, the wise and successful have appreciated the importance of gratitude, regardless of circumstance. Please take a few minutes to read some meaningful quotes that may touch your soul.
- “I would maintain that thanks is the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton
- “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer
- “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley
- “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” — Lionel Hampton
- “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” — John Milton
- “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” — Germany Kent
- “This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.” — Maya Angelou
- “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” — Epicurus
- “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” —Eckhart Tolle
- “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust
- “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness; it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” — Brené Brown
- “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” —Melody Beattie
- “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” — William Arthur Ward
- “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick
- “Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” — Alphonse Karr
- “Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” — Wayne Dyer
- “Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack to abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality.” — Jen Sincero
- “At the age of 18, I made up my mind to never have another bad day in my life. I dove into an endless sea of gratitude from which I’ve never emerged.” — Patch Adams
- “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” — John Milton
- “So, it is not happiness that makes us grateful, it’s gratefulness that makes us happy.” — David Steindl-Rast
- “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” -Kurt Vonnegut
It is with the sincerest of gratitude that the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office thanks you so much for your continued support. It is an honor to serve you.
James van Beek is the Eagle County sheriff. You can reach him at james.vanbeek@eaglecounty.us.
