If You Are Really Thankful, What Do You Do

W. Clement Stone once said something so amazing simple yet deep it truly is worthy of some serious contemplation on how best to apply it to our lives. He said, “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”

WOW, how amazingly profound and yet remarkably and fundamentally basic!

It’s true, if you are smart enough to be reading a lot of autobiographies of the most notably influential and highly successful achievers and leaders in life … one of the most instantly noticeable quality and attitude that they all seem to have in common, is a truly heart-felt and authentic desire to share, that flows directly out of a most sincerely humble sense of true gratitude and deep seated thanks!

Throughout our pursuits in business and life, we so often hear the standard and now almost predictable “cliché’s” about our remembering to continually give ourselves a serious “Check-Up from the neck up” and maintain a life affirming and positive “Attitude of Gratitude.”

It’s almost as if, the more we hear those words of wisdom, the less seriously we truly take them and we certainly don’t spend much time thinking deeply about them any more … but why not?

Keep in mind … just because something has become a traditional standard and often recited cliché, does that make it any LESS true? Or does the very fact that so many very wise people continue to say it over and over again, make it probably and actually much MORE true and certainly worthy of our consistent application in our own particular professional and personal pursuits?

There are certain principals that tend to naturally and even supernaturally apply to our lives in a very universal and predictable way. Gravity is one. Momentum is another and yes, an attitude of gratitude is another. That sense of sincerely felt appreciation and thanks for our successes and blessings naturally makes us want to give back to others, from the bountiful bevy of blessings that we have received.

The fascinating thing is, the more we give to others, the more we end up getting back and the better we feel about life, ourselves and humankind in general.

In fact, it’s such a powerfully predictable principal, that many of the world’s most successful people actually start-off every project that they set out upon, by giving away some money, time, expertise, insights and information, just to help “prime the pump” and better ensure the ultimate success of their endeavors.

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