Gratitude & Wealth

Bill Couchenour | Monday, November 21, 2011

There are a couple of important dates for me this week.  First of all, its my anniversary (Love you, Baby!). The other is Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday. I'm not sure why that is, but who could argue with a day of family, food and football.  Honestly, though, I think it's the fact that Thanksgiving is just about that - thanksgiving.  There's not usually the hustle and bustle of a holiday like Christmas. Instead, it's just sitting back, reflecting and simply being grateful for what we have. 

We are reminded in Psalms 107, 118 and 136 to “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; his love endures forever.” I am glad that God is truly great and truly good. Paul encourages us on how to live together in Ephesians 5 by instructing us to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (my bold). Even when we pray we are told in Philippians 4 to bring every detail of our needs to God “with thanksgiving.”

An attitude of gratitude is a good way to live.

That’s because there is a direct correlation between your level of gratitude and your level of happiness. Above a certain level of subsistence, there is no (or perhaps a negative) correlation between your level of net worth and your level of happiness. Luke reminds us that, “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Look at the people around you – wouldn’t you agree? There are secular confirmations from Maslow to the Harvard Business Review. The HBR had one of the best articles on compensation I’ve ever read. The article groups all the ways we try to inspire people in a workplace into “Intrinsic Motivators” and “Hygiene Factors”. Money was a hygiene factor, meaning it needed to be at an appropriate level but, beyond that level, it wasn’t effective at motivating people.

How wealthy are you? I encourage you, whatever you’re going through, to spend time with God everyday this week telling him what you’re thankful for.

LIVE THANKFULLY!

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Appreciation

Bill Couchenour | Monday, August 15, 2011

 

Do you remember a time when someone made you feel appreciated?

Do you remember what it felt like to be genuinely valued?

Appreciation is powerful because it adds to our sense of wholeness as an individual, yet connected to others in a community. Appreciation can feed our sense of meaning & purpose and give us hope, regardless of the current circumstances. Those are life-giving moments. Moments that for some people have been transformational in their lives. Think of the emotions you felt just now recalling a specific time when you were appreciated, or the emotions you’re feeling because it’s been so long since you’ve felt appreciated.

So why doesn’t appreciation happen more often?

One reason may be because some people don’t have a sense of gratitude. It’s nearly impossible to offer authentic appreciation when you don’t feel grateful. Another reason may be because we tend to see people with a label. It can be difficult to give appreciation to someone from another political or religious persuasion, when we subconsciously allow ourselves to reason that, if they’re wrong about that, how can they be right about anything. Another reason might be because we’re not good at it. We may have simply trained ourselves to see the negative first and foremost, or, maybe, our only examples of appreciation were actually manipulation. Perhaps the biggest reason is because we just don’t think of it. I know that I have had to be intentional about appreciation. Even though I deeply value people, too many times it doesn’t make it out of my head and heart to my lips and pen.

Let’s purpose to live gratefully, recognizing the value of the individual and be intentional about giving authentic appreciation. We have the power to create life-giving moments.

I often think back to a podcast by Len Sweet from his “Napkin Scribbles” series (hosted by George Fox Evangelical Seminary). The podcast is entitled, “The Water and the Words” and the premise is based on work by the Japanese researcher, Dr. Masaru Emoto. In his book, The Miracle of Water, Dr. Emoto found that words impacted the formation of water crystals. The more positive the words, the more beautiful the crystals. The language didn’t matter because it wasn’t the vibration of the sounds – it was the meaning. And the two words that formed the most beautiful water crystals were Love and Gratitude. If that’s true and the earth is made up of 70% water – we’re made up of 70% water – then “Love” and “Gratitude” become very powerful words.

What life-giving difference could you make today by using the 2 most powerful words in the world?
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