Finally revealed...The astonishing power of gratitude
and the solution to the 5 big mistakes that
keep most people from putting it to work for them!

Daily Gratitude Newsletters

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Daily Gratitude Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 8 - August 2006
Putting Gratitude To Work For You
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We now have subscribers to this newsletter in 69 countries:

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If your country is not listed, drop me a note with the Comments form at
DailyGratitude.com/comments.html
so I can add you to the list.

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Why don't people do what they know they should? Why don't YOU do what you know you should?

There's an easy way to find out, and that's with the powerful secrets of the mind that are revealed in the Goal Achiever! This is the program that changed my life! Get the cassette tape edition and save $70! (A little cassette player is cheap!)

CreateSuccessSeminars.com/goalach.html

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"The Gratitude Rock"

This time we have a guest article by David Driscoll which I think you'll find very inspiring!

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My oldest daughter asked me to help her with a Foster Child project she was working on. What I discovered was when a child turns 18 they “age out” of the system. This means they are released from care. They are turned out to fend for themselves. Most of the time they have no parents to guide them, no money, no place to live, no job and no transportation.

Sounds too cruel doesn’t it? I was shocked and motivated to help these kids have a better start on their life. It was during this discovery process I met Lauren, my new teacher in disguise.

Lauren was 17 years old and had been in the Foster Care system since she was 8 and has been in 12 different Foster Homes. Out of all the kids I talked to, Lauren was unique. Not unique in circumstance but in attitude. Most of the kids were fearful, apprehensive and not very trusting, understandably so, but not Lauren. I asked her why she was so happy and up beat. She told me about Mommy Jean, a lady she stayed with when she was 10.

Mommy Jean told her that no matter how bad things are today there's always a better day tomorrow. She told her to be grateful for what you have today, because if you're not tomorrow will surely be worse.Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out an old rock and laid it on the table in front of her. She told me Mommy Jean gave it to her and told her this was a Gratitude Rock. Each time she touched it or felt it in her pocket she had to think of something she was grateful for.

Lauren said, “I'm grateful for another new day, the food that I had for breakfast this morning, the teachers that come here to teach me new stuff. I’m grateful for being able to walk across the grass and feel the breeze on my face. I'm thankful I get to go shopping this afternoon, I’m grateful to have a warm place to sleep tonight, clean clothes in the morning.”

I thought, here's a young lady living in a County facility, parents that didn't want her and she moves from place to place carrying all her belongings in a plastic trash bag. Top it all off, she's turning 18 in a few months and is going to be on her own, with no money, no job, no place to live.... and she still finds things to be GRATEFUL for every day, in fact several times a day! WOW!

After Lauren and I finished talking, we walked across the yard back to the reception area. As we approached the door, Lauren said, with a big smile, "I have a present for you." She bent down and picked up a small rock and said "Here, this is your gratitude rock, carry it with you all the time and every time you touch it find something to be grateful for."

So I did. Well after the first week, and being grateful for my children, wife, nice car, nice house, yada, yada, yada, all the big things we are all grateful for, the second week was a bit more difficult. It was in this second week I realized how ungrateful I really was. I was all out of things to be grateful for, or at least I thought I was.

Tuesday morning, I stopped by the grocery store to get cash from the ATM. I was walking in the grocery store and reaching for my wallet and I touched the rock and I heard Lauren’s voice just as plain as day say, “every time you touch the rock think of something you’re grateful for.” Huh?? My mind was miles away, being grateful was not on my list.

As I walked into the store, I was captivated by everything that surrounded me. A machine that dispenses cash, beautiful cut flowers, fresh apples, oranges, strawberries. I felt like I’d never been in a grocery store before. I was not there to buy anything but I walked thru the produce section and as I did, I heard Lauren say, “just think of all the people it took to bring these flowers, apples and strawberries to this store, look at all the choices you have. Be grateful for your choices and be grateful to all the people it took to bring them to you.”

I spent a good 20 minutes just walking around looking, absorbing what it meant to grateful. I remembered last week I’d rushed in the same store to pick up some items for dinner. Today the same store looked totally different. Last week my attitude was one of a customer in a hurry. I didn't pay attention to anything that was going on around me. I paid no attention to the people cleaning and stacking the produce, the cashier checking out the groceries or the young man at the end of the check out counter bagging my purchase.

What a shame, what a waste. Today it was different, today I felt grateful for these people and thought how lucky they were, they had an opportunity to be of service to their neighbors. I was grateful for all the farmers the field hands, people that loaded the trucks, truck drivers who spent their days delivering all these goods. It dawned on me how important these people were, all of whom are being of service to their neighbors. Without them my choices would be very limited.

It was during that second week, with that old rock in my pocket, I decided to refocus my attention on what was right with my world, my surroundings and circumstances. I realized I had spent way too much time focusing on what was wrong or not quite right. I was expending way too much energy trying to adjust or change what I thought need fixing, when in reality it really wasn’t broken; all I had to do was to say, “THANK YOU.”

If you’d like to help Lauren and other young teens like her, visit HelpLauren.com

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That's something to think about, isn't it?

Have a great month. I am very grateful for each and every one of you!

Peace and love,
Wes

PS - Don't forget to get your copy of Goal Achiever at my Products page.

PPS - Remember to go to dailygratitude.com and give us your comments.

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© 2006 Wes Hopper. All rights reserved.
Feel free to pass the above in its entirety to anyone you wish.