Welcome to the BEE Grateful Page!

This is the FLIP side of me not being as grateful as I want to be.

By helping myself and others to learn more about BEEing GRATEFUL

We can send more gratitude into the world!

The BEE Grateful Page was inspired and created by my own attitude of “not being as grateful as I want to be.”  It is my wish that this page will make it easier not only for me to be more grateful but for anyone who finds this page and wants to do the same. 

For me, there are days when it is not easy to feel my inspirational, spirit boom out of me with gratitude when I am counting my blessings.  You know, that fire that burns inside of you when you feel lucky and then blessed to have a fridge full of food, a car that doesn’t break down, and a roof over your head. 

I also find there are other days when I am not feeling grateful because I woke up to the same yesterday.  That darn, repetitive, day after; a day that I believe can leave anyone in the same old world they were in the day before.  For me, it’s a world that I do not always understand, like, love, or want to be a part of.  And that is when I can feel very ungrateful.  If I am not dancing with joyful gratitude and repeating a yesterday, it is easier to want more of - expensive, better food, a nicer car, a bigger roof over my head, and a beach house in Cape Cod, among other things.     

Because of these thoughts and others, I cannot help but believe that I am not the only person on earth who can feel like this.  Let me explain - I believe that people in general have an invisible force or a spiritual connection that attracts others to them with the same issues or triumphs that they may have.  I have noticed this with every person I have ever worked with and sometimes met.  And while I kind of thought it was poppy cock, I proved myself wrong when I became a coach. 

As human beings with connections to our souls, whether we like it or not, we are connected by this energy.  Many times, when I am coaching someone who does not seem they have anything in common with me - I will find that link that connects us with the same qualities, differences, problems, and issues before we close our session.      

I also believe that when you help others, you can also help yourself because of that connection and when I do help someone, I always learn something just by being a part of their world.   

So, let us begin with a question.  How can you feel and BEE more grateful even when you do not feel gratitude is at the top of your to-do list?  Let’s say on a Monday morning when it is raining cats and dogs, your car will not start and you are late for work.      

For me, I had to begin with something very familiar.  Let’s face it, many people do not have the necessities that others have.  So, on days I cannot feel any gratitude, even for breakfast, and I love my breakfast, I start with number one on the list. 

I am grateful I have never gone without food!        

My Mom played a part in teaching me to be grateful for always having a full belly as a child.  She always reminded me to be thankful for my food and to finish everything on my plate because many children went without food.  As an adult, she also made it a habit of reminding me of what I had versus what I did not have.

For example:  I remember her listening to my cries of anguish and she would open my single-parent fridge and tell me as she looked inside it - try to be grateful for the good food in your fridge and while it may not be everything you want to be eating - you will not go hungry.   

She would continue like moms always like to do; I know you do not feel like you have a lot but always remember to look at what you have in your fridge.  I would of course listen, with a sad, long face but always agreed with her because I knew many people had less than I did.  And while I never went hungry, there were times I was ungrateful because I had to go without the food I wanted to be eating.  And as selfish as that may sound, I still have a habit of opening my fridge to see what is in it - so I can remember hearing her words and feeling that good inside because this Is one of the fondest memories of my mother teaching me about gratitude.     

Many times, as a single parent in college, I would save my money so I could buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or a take-out pizza as a treat.  And believe me, saving my change for these delectable treats are memories that can still bring me to tears.  And as I remember, those treats always tasted better when I saved my money than if I had the money in my pocket to buy them.  And by the way, that “I can have better,” feeling and the independence of actually buying something I saved money for - also stayed with me. 

Because of my go-without-beginning, I have always made it a point to not waste food.  And while this is my only pet peeve concerning others who do, I will save that subject for what would Karen really say.

The second thing I could always be grateful for, and with very little effort, is I was always extremely lucky to be able to take dance and acrobatic lessons.  I recognized at a very early age that I was not only lucky enough to be able to do those things - physically - but that I had parents who could afford it and wanted to take me to dance school.

In addition, I became even more grateful that I could perform on stage for special and disabled adults and children, and the elderly.  Many of them could not even get up and dance, even if they wanted to and yet I could see that they were so grateful to just watch us, applaud, for us, and enjoy the show. 

I made it a point to never forget some of their faces of appreciation glowing with joy.  But despite those two great experiences, I have always wanted to be and feel more grateful.

The first article below is called Being Grateful Can Be Simple.  And as hard as I try to find new ways so I can be more grateful, I believe gratitude can be simple by giving thanks for what we have in our hearts and searching for more expression deep within our souls.