To fill your weeks with an attitude of gratitude, find one thing to be grateful for in your life each day.
 
Some of mine are...

1. I’m grateful for my cellulite. I know what you’re thinking; who in their right mind would want to be grateful for cellulite? Well, that is what being grateful is about; we need to start to look at things from a different prospective. If I have cellulite then I have legs and that means I can keep on moving. I have strong legs and I can work-out and try and improve the way they look, and as long as I am grateful, the Universe will keep giving me more wonder opportunities to be more grateful each day.
 
2. I’m grateful for my apartment. I don’t own a house although I would like to but as long as I live in my apartment I make sure it is filled with love, peace, and a place where I love to be and friends are welcome.
 

3. I’m really grateful for my two stray cats; Kristina, 13 years old and Sammie, four years old. They are the love of my life. While battling with Cushing’s disease (a secondary disease caused by a pituitary brain tumor) for seven years while many of my girlfriends were meeting the man of their dreams and getting married and starting their families, I was gaining weight and searching for help in our medical system. And because the pituitary brain tumor was causing a hormonal imbalance I gained 100 pounds in just one year and I had no desire to go hunting for a sexy hunk of a man to be my boyfriend. I was so sick from the Cushing’s I was luck to just walk up the stairs let alone think of being in an intimate relationship. (see my website www.hormones411.com for more information on hormonal disorders). So as luck would have it the Universe dropped these two darling little furring cats right in my lab, right when I needed love the most. I did not want any more pets after Buggsy, my flop-eared rabbit passed away. Buggsy, lived in the house just like a cat and even used a litter-box, she was so smart. But once I looked in Kristina and Sammie’s beautiful little eyes it was love at first sight and we have been quite a team ever since. At times a very dysfunctional team but a loving team just the same.

4. I’m grateful for my little chubby body when I look in the mirror. When I was a size two and 120 pounds before I go sick with the pituitary brain tumor, I would say; “Does my butt look big in these pants?” For God sakes no one’s butt is big at a size two-so stop the drama! But now I don’t ask that question because at a size 14, (almost a size 12-I’m on Jenny Craig and it’s working!) I know my butt looks big, but now I have a choice about how I “think” at my “Healthy Butt” and I am just grateful I am HEALTHYand in remission from a very serious illness and I have better things to give my energy to than worrying if my butt is big. I’m too busy helping make a difference for others affected with life threatening  illnesses, or going to play on the beach or having fun with my friends and family-by the way, they don’t care if my butt looks big or small they just see my loving heart and healthy full of life body.

5. I’m grateful for the NETC Pituitary Patient Support Group that I have the great pleasure of facilitating. (www.neuro-endo.org) It costs me quite a bit of money to facilitate the group, because of all the literature, DVDs, and other informational materials it takes to make the group great and to help patients, but I love it. Meeting wonderful people through my support group has helped my own personal growth and bettered my own recovery. I am always looking forward to finding new ways to improve our medical community and people’s quality of life.

6. I’m grateful for my family. I recently lost my oldest sister Taryn to the horrible disease of alcoholism and it reminds me every day to appreciate the times I spend with my friends and family. Always make quality time with each other! My sister’s life was extremely painful, for all of us... Alcoholism, as many people know, affects everyone. My beautiful sister died at 49 years old, but that isn’t what bothers me. What bothers me is the fact that for many years she didn’t live life. Her quality of life was so extremely poor from her addiction she couldn’t see beyond it. I’m grateful for programs to help addictions and I’m grateful for my brother Sean who has been sober for 20 years! I miss my sister horribly, but I am grateful for the person I am because of her.

7. Last but not least, I am grateful for me. I’m grateful I have worked so hard to be a good person, to care about others. I am grateful I listen to that inner voice that calls me to keep wanting a better quality of life not only for myself but for others as well. I’m grateful for all those years of therapy, they’ve seem to have paid off!

A better quality of life isn’t measured by new cars, big boats, beautiful houses; it is measured by our inner happiness and our ability to love others without judgment. Of course, first we have to be grateful for what we have before we can move forward.

Peace and Blessings,
Sharmyn