What Happens When You Begin in Gratitude?
Start the year by transforming your mindset with this meditation.
Hello & Happy New Year!
We knew we wanted to start off the new year with a newsletter on gratitude. Because, what better way is there to start a year than by appreciating what we have?
My team & I went back and forth on whether to discuss the science behind gratitude, practical tips for incorporating more gratitude into your daily routine, etc.
But in the end, we kept coming back to a short prayer a friend of mine, Fernando, shared in my business owner forum group a few years back. During a season filled with lots of challenging things to dwell on in my life, this short prayer helped me to shift my perspective. It helped me to find gratitude in life’s journey, rather than just the material things life brings me.
So rather than lay out a compelling case on how & why you should incorporate more gratitude into your life, I’m simply going to share this prayer with you. I know many of you reading this newsletter have different beliefs on faith and spirituality than my own, so I invite you to use the following words as a meditation and see how this might resonate within your own beliefs.
These words have led to a transformation in my mindset and encouraged me, as Fernando says, to Go BIG (Begin in Gratitude). And I have a feeling it may do the same for you.
—
Disturb us, Lord
Disturb us, Lord,
When we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
(The exact origins of this prayer are unknown, but it is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Drake, the English sea captain and explorer, in the late 16th century.)
—
It’s my hope that each of you reading this newsletter finds a renewed sense of vision for your year ahead. One that challenges you to “venture on wider seas” and find gratitude for the journey you’re on.
Cheers to a year of going BIG,
Steve
Reflection Questions
In what ways am I “sailing too close to the shore” and limiting my ability to grow?
How can I shift my perspective from scarcity to gratitude?
How can I appreciate, even more, the journey I am on?
Book Recommendation
In the recent 8 Favorite Resources of 2024 post, another leader from my business forum group, Steven McCormick, shared a recommendation for a book focused on gratitude:
Here's what Steve had to say: “It focuses on practical ways to instill gratitude into your daily life. Personally, it helped me stay fixed on all the things I am grateful for - and as I implemented gratitude more into my daily thought patterns, lots of positive things emerged.”
I'm adding this book to my 2025 reading list - anyone else?