The Psychology of Gratitude

July 3rd is my mothers birthday and it had me pondering how very grateful I am for her and also about the gratitude she taught my sisters and I without even trying as we were growing up. You see, we didn’t grow up as trust fund babies. We grew up in a small town in Dayton Ohio. After we lost my dad, my mom often worked two jobs in order to put food on our plates. More about this below.

According to the dictionary this is the definition of the word gratitude below.  Gratitude ~ noun pronunciation ~ grat·i·tude

the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

 

Now back to my beautiful mom who has me all up in my feels!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother! To know you is to love you!

I am really grateful for my mom. She has ALWAYS been there for me and always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

My mother is the wisest, funniest, sarcastic beautiful green eyed woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I am proud to call her my mother.

B~O~N~N~I~E
Beautiful
Original
Never unkind
Nice
Interesting
Everything to us!

Andrea Cox with mother Bonnie

Today I want to share with you something my mother has always said… “tomorrow is a new day, always be grateful”.

‬Every day we have a choice on what to focus on.

Yesterday my Mac book and I said goodbye. Remembering that everything is always working out for our highest good I made the conscious choice of not making a fuss or attempting to fix it.
I thought oh well time for a new one! 

‪Today I am choosing to focus gratitude on‬ the following

‪The sun‬
‪My funky side yard garden‬ that is in full bloom!
‪My roses‬
‪Cellular detox body mind & spirit ‬
‪My green juice‬
‪My RescueDogs ‬
‪Getting my mom and sisters B-day gifts out at the post office!

Gratitude is something I teach in several of my programs. I even have you fill out a daily gratitude journal the entire thirty days of my Detox Your Life Program!

Andrea Cox’s #garden #raw #veganrecipes #greenjuice

Whether you go with my Detox Your Life program or, choose to keep a simple log of gratitude daily, I know the choice to write down your daily bliss will comfort you during these strange times we are living in!

Here’s another simple daily entry of mine from the fourth of July weekend!!

July 4th, 2020 Gratitude Journal entry

My plans today are simple

A manicure & pedicure!

A full body Ayurvedic massage

Beautiful people inside and out

An incredible Vegan meal

A gorgeous view

Happy 4th my friends!

Today’s menu ~

🌱 Fresh pressed OJ
🌱 Guacamole
🌱 Baked butternut squash
🌱 Homemade pita’s
🌱 Watermelon
🌱 Coconuts of course
🌱 Avocado chocolate mousse
🌱 Salad {of course}!

Raw Vegan Brunch
Fourth of July 2020
Andrea Cox

The bottom line here is this, a grateful heart will take you farther than you could ever imagine! This is a lesson my mother has instilled into my two older sisters and I for years. We grew up with very little yet she made certain we shared dinner together and always had a few laughs too! We watched Dallas and Falcon Crest on Friday’s. She popped popcorn and took us to the drive in movies. We visited my Grandma every week. My mother was grateful just to be able to give us the memory of sharing a meal together every night. 

So today, every organic meal I serve my two husbands with fur makes my heart filled with joy! Every juice I make makes me smile from ear to ear! Every meal I share with a friend creates a memory that fills my soul with gratitude! 

And this my friends is what life is all about! 

I love you

Please love yourself ~ Andrea

Life just gets better and better every single day!

My life is about to change in a HUGE way! On one hand, I am excited beyond belief! On the other hand, I’m a bit scared of changing and having to let go to the Un known! 

I want to know that I’ll have your support through it all! I want to know that you all will be there for me even if you don’t see me on my Facebook wall for quite a while! 

Life is a journey and my journey has just begun! #Beyondblessed#ThisisOnlyTheBeginning

What I witnessed yesterday that is changing my outlook today.

Do you ever feel that angels are placed in our lives to make us think about how truly blessed we are?

Everyday as I leave my home to go to the gym I see a man walking to the grocery store from a near by apartment community.
He has a very noticeable limp and what would be a fifteen minute walk for you and I takes him at least forty-five minutes. 

He always has the BIGGEST smile upon his face and I always say a little prayer for him along my drive.
The prayer is not what one might think it is. Its not that he miraculously heals and is able to walk perfectly.
It that no one makes fun of him or is rude to him. His walk is very dramatic and I know how cruel teenagers and many adults can sometimes be.

Today I was driving to the store where he goes and as I sat at the light I could see his smile was not there.
I decided to pull over and ask him if he needed a ride. I said “excuse me,
I see you walking to Vons every day and I need to run in there, need a lift”?
He looked at me shocked and said no thank you.
I drove away feeling a little bit silly and even thought I may have offended him.

Thirty minutes later as I was leaving the store he was just arriving.
He stopped me at my car and said “Miss, in seven years no one has ever stopped me and
asked if I needed a lift, thank you, I appreciate your offer”.
He went on to say that he has MS and the walk gives him a daily dose of exercise.

We exchanged stories with one another briefly and then I got in my car and drove away.
When I got home the tears began to fall. Not because I feel sorry for him in any way.
Because I am so grateful that God places angels along our path to make us realize how lucky we truly are