The Thank You Principle

In The Secret, James Arthur Ray talks about the Thank You principle. Every morning as he gets out of bed, as soon as his feet hit the floor he begins saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Now you may think this sounds strange. Who is he thanking? Well, when I do this I am thanking God. I suppose he is too.

The idea is to create a feeling of gratitude in yourself so that you will feel good and attract more good things into your life.

When I first tried this I felt a little silly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," I said because I was supposed to. I thought in my half groggy mind, "thank you for what?" It seemed like I should be specific.

But the more I practiced this principle, I found that as I would say the words something would flash into my mind for which I should be grateful. Out of nowhere I thought of things such as my washer and drier. I don't think I had ever in my life thought to thank God for my washer and drier. They make my life so much easier. As I thought of this, I said with enthusiasm again, "Thank you!"

Then I kept going. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Over and over with nothing particularly in mind. Another flash. I was truly grateful for a comfortable bed to sleep in every night. Yes! "Thank you for my bed!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Now I began to get into this. "Thanks for my wonderful, supportive friends. They are always there for me!"

Starting again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I am one of the luckiest people in the world. I have 7 beautiful, wonderful, loving children. They have given us so much joy and very little grief. Most people don't have the luxury to even have 7 children. I am filled with gratitude.

Again I say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" And into my mind pops the obvious but profound thought, "without my incredible husband, Dennis, I would never have been able to have and raise those children. How I love and appreciate my husband!"

So here I am in the first two minutes of my morning full of praise and thanksgiving to a wonderful God who has blessed me so richly. This is certainly the way to start a new day! Who can guess what other wonderful blessings await me before my head hits the pillow tonight!