An Attitude of Gratitude- Thoughts for Giving Thanks

My Gratitude Jar

You are a living magnet. What you attract into your life is in harmony with your dominant thoughts.”- Brian Tracy, Motivational Speaker and Author

So what's up with the jar? I got the idea from a post by Angela Graham in one of the CMT Facebook groups. She posted we should set-up a jar at the start of the new year. Every time something good happens we should put a note in the jar. At the end of the year we should empty the jar and see all the good things that have happened to us over the year.

I'm not going to wait for the start of the year, I've already started and added a couple of good things that have happened to me this last week.  So I will keep adding things I am grateful for and good things that happen to me.

Will this mindfulness magically bring good things into my life?  Maybe, but I think it will make me more mindful of the good things as they happen. Ever notice when you buy a new car or even when you start looking at a certain model, all of a sudden you see that car everywhere. There aren't more of that type of car then there were before, you're just noticing what is already there.

There is a good reason for cultivating an attitude of gratitude.  Boston College grad student Josh Coyne did a study on the power of saying thank you. He surveyed 30 Boston College students on their stress level, self love and happiness. Then he asked them to write about the person in their lives living or dead for whom they were most grateful.  He then asked each student to call the person if they were living or to read the essay about their person out loud if their person was no longer living.

The video he took is very powerful. I cry every time I see it.  What is really powerful, was the results of the post call survey.  The students own assessment was that their self love and happiness went up as a result of saying thank you. Here is the link to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2myKUJsaS1o

I expect I'll find lots of good things happen to me every week. I'm not sure this jar will be big enough.
Sometimes I see negativity in the on line Facebook groups. Even with CMT we have a lot to be grateful for.   Recently I've seen a shift in the CMT groups. More and more members are talking about keeping the group positive and finding the joy in living life despite having CMT. I love that the conversations have started to change because of the efforts of people like Angela Graham.
Sometimes it just takes a little mindfulness to see the great stuff that is already there.


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Chris Wodke at Paratriathlon National Championship Austin Texas 2013

Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

Chris is a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the Boston Marathon.  In 2012 she finished 2nd at Boston in the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.

She has appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open Division Champion.

In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship. She has qualified to represent Team USA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015.  

 In 2014 she represented  the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.

She travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.

She is the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a CMT affected athlete.

http://www.henschelhausbooks.com/catalog/memoir-biography/215-running-for-my-life-winning-for-cmt-9781595982827.html

You may visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have 159 members in 30 states. We also have members in Australia, Scotland, Canada, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland and Iran. If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Additional Link

Follow CMT affected Paratriathlete Timmy Dixon
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/

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