I was talking to my daughter today about our upcoming celebration dinner at the Melting Pot and, once again, the subject came up about people who always expect her to do things, but after awhile, it just gets old.    As she told me that one person in particular had, once again, abused the privilege, I jokingly called her a meanie, to which she responded “says the woman who wouldn’t do something like that!”.

She followed up my remark that they were always doing stuff for me (asked or unasked, I might add!), to which she replied:  “Yes, but you appreciate and don’t expect.”

Wow!  The lightbulb went off for me on that one!  I’m always talking about gratitude when it comes to the Universe and how we attract more when we are grateful, whether it’s for green lights, sunny days, or abundance of any kind.  But take it down to the purely human level, and it is just as effective! 

We, as humans, want, nay, need to be appreciated.  If we try and try, but all we get is negative responses, we’re going to eventually take our efforts elsewhere.  But if what we do is appreciated, then, boy, are we going to be there to earn more of that appreciation!

It’s the little things, too, that add up.  Just this week, I had a cashier at Trader Joe’s thank me for understanding that the store has no control over what the warehouse does or does not send them.  From where I sit, that just goes without saying, but clearly, customers complain loudly to them when they’re out of something.

Tonight, our waiter was apologizing for what he apparently felt was slower than normal service.  When we told him we weren’t in a hurry and that everything was perfect, he, too, expressed gratitude and said that he had a table on the other side of the wall which was complaining about every, little thing,  He even wrote a really sweet note on the receipt!    But it was us who felt really good about being able to appreciate the job he was doing, rather than looking for fault, and being appreciated for that! 

Are you seeing where I’m going here?  Gratitude has a snowball effect!  We appreciate someone’s efforts, they appreciate our appreciation, and we appreciate being appreciated…and so on and so on.  Wouldn’t the world be an amazing, abundant, joyful place if everyone figured this out???

So, I don’t think it matters whether you “Pay it Forward”, perform “random acts of kindness”, or just appreciate every, single, little thing around you!  All that matters is that we stop taking our world for granted, and see what a beautiful place it is, and what we can do to make it even more beautiful. 

Surely, being gracious, patient and kind isn’t too much to ask.  While it’s easy to take your bad day out on some random stranger, does it really make you feel better, or do you just get crankier?   What if, instead of snarling at someone, you put your crankiness aside and smiled instead?  Wouldn’t the answering smile be more likely to lighten your mood? 

Like begets like.  We’ve seen that enough through the Laws of Attraction.  So let’s replace that 100 bottles of beer on the wall with 100 smiles.  Take one down, pass it around, and you know what?  Now you have 101 smiles on the wall!!!

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for so many opportunities to give people smiles.
2. I am grateful for a wonderful, celebratory dinner at our favorite restaurant with my kids.  (all 3 hours of it!)
3. I am grateful for a warm house filled with furry children who keep me company while I work, meditate, sleep, read, or just be.
4. I am grateful for the evolution of my life, and the dreams I now live.
5. I am grateful for a better pace in which to live and love my life.

Love and light.