Since the movie, The Secret, and the more recent video of actor, Matthew McConaughey’s award acceptance speech, there’s been a lot of buzz about how being in gratitude reciprocates.

The buzz isn’t all anecdontal either. According to the Institute of Heart Math, when one expresses gratitude, one reaches a state where your breathing, heart rate, and brain waves are working together at levels of optimum performance. In this state, you are able to stay relaxed regardless of the circumstances around you.

When reading the research, it reminded me of a story I wrote years ago. The story illustrates just how powerful being in a state of gratitude can shift your world.

One day, a business owner sat in her chair simply exhausted from her busy schedule. She was overwhelmed at her lengthy to do list, frustrated that one of her employees just quit, and was resigned that she would be working another weekend to catch up.

Each evening before she went to bed, her mind was filled with hundreds of thoughts focused on what wasn’t working in her life. She was sleep deprived and, while running a profitable business, she wasn’t living her desired life.

In the next session with her business mentor, she complained about the laundry list of things that weren’t working. She criticized others and pointed to a lack of resources.

After a few minutes, her mentor asked her to share what blessings came her way. She replied sarcastically, “Well, I found a penny, I’ll be rich in no time!”

Suddenly, she stopped herself. She recognized that she wasn’t living into one of the key principles she learned about just weeks earlier: The Principle of Conscious Thought – to be genuinely grateful for even the smallest blessings.

In that moment, she realized that she was stopping the flow of abundance if, in her heart, she wasn’t truly grateful for the little things. With full responsibility, she acknowledged that she may have been the cause of why staffing resources were leaving because of her criticism. She recognized that she was postponing additional revenue opportunities from showing up since she wasn’t thankful for the smallest sum of money.

After committing to developing a consistent practice of gratitude, it didn’t take her long for her to realize the true power of the principle. In the weeks that followed, she would receive three phone calls. The first call came in from a business owner that resulted in one of their largest contracts. The second call was from the ideal candidate for her open position. The third call was from her husband who planned a surprise vacation.

Gratitude reciprocates. When you create a consistent practice of being grateful, opportunities come in abundance regularly and effortlessly. Shift your conscious thoughts focusing on the smallest blessings and watch as you create a space to invite more of what you desire into your life.

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