Finding Gratefulness

Seeing the Good in Life

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

– Albert Einstein

Finding Gratefulness

Chasing Influence: Transformational Coaching to Build Champions for Life

Life can be hectic and filled with obstacles that can sometimes make it challenging to appreciate what we have. Unfortunately, negative events tend to grab our attention, and we often lose sight of the positive things in our lives. We see this behavior on social media, in the news, and even when our friends vent to us. However, no matter how tough our lives may seem, there are always reasons to be grateful and happy. To be successful and live a fulfilling life, we must adopt a more grateful attitude and show appreciation. The following story about perspective and gratitude can help us understand what it means to be thankful. The story comes from Chasing Influence.

A young blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. A sign by the hat read, “I am blind, please help,” and only a few coins lay inside the hat, hurriedly tossed by passersby. A woman then walked by, noticed the boy, and, unlike most of the others, stopped. She dug out a few coins from her pocket and dropped them into the hat. The woman then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote a few words. She arranged the sign so that everyone could see what she had written.

After she left, more and more people, many more than before, began contributing to the blind boy, wishing him well, and the hat began to fill up. Later that afternoon, the woman returned to check on how things were going. The boy recognized the sound of her footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who took my sign this morning? What did you write on it?” The woman replied, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I wrote, ‘Today is a beautiful day, even if I cannot see it.’”

Both signs conveyed the truth, but the first sign only stated that the boy was blind. The second sign conveyed to everyone who walked by how lucky they were to see the beauty in the world. It’s a powerful reminder that even in difficult circumstances, there is always something to be grateful for.

What are you grateful for? How will you show this gratitude? And how will you do it? Take this moment to send a text, write an email, make a phone call, or even better yet - write a thank you note and put it in the mail.

I am thankful for each of you and the waves of positive influence you create.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

– John F. Kennedy

Connecting this quote to the story. In the story, the woman not only expressed her gratitude by contributing to the blind boy but also demonstrated it by changing the sign to remind others of the beauty in the world. It’s not enough to just say we are thankful; we must also show it through our actions and how we live our lives. The highest appreciation is to integrate gratitude into our daily lives and make it a part of who we are.

This week’s Chasing Influence tip: If it’s good or right, find a way to get it done. The failure to act is one of the greatest obstacles we face.

If you enjoyed this story, a series of three Chasing Influence workbooks is available. Stories are accompanied by discussion questions and answers. Each workbook contains 33 lessons to use with any team.

Workbook One

Workbook Two

Workbook Three

Updates on Chasing Influence

Chasing Influence: Transformational Coaching to Build Champions for Life is available in Kindle, softcover, hardcover, and audiobook editions.

For additional resources, links to podcast appearances, and other Chasing Influence news, click here.

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©Troy Urdahl, 2023