Transforming Memories

“Gratitude has the power to transform your memories.”

I recently was speaking with a friend who was going through a difficult season with someone. She said the following statement that has transformed my own life, “I am using gratitude as a weapon.”

You don’t usually hear those two works together in a one sentence – gratitude and weapon.

As I pondered her approach I was challenged to apply this principle to my life. I set out to write as many reasons I was grateful for a painful season in my life. It was a time when I had felt personally rejected by someone I loved. As I started writing the reasons I was grateful for this difficult time, my perspective changed.

This time no longer felt like a waste of time. I no longer felt defeated and discouraged. I was able to see the good coming out of the pain. My conversations about the difficulties shifted to sharing great growth and breakthroughs.

How would you describe your painful memory?
How can you use gratitude as a weapon today?
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned during this time?

Karen Sebastian is an author, blogger, corporate training executive and gifted speaker who transparently shares the hope she has found in the darkest times of her life.  She is a seasoned entrepreneur who founded HOPEpreneurs, a consulting firm dedicated to helping women succeed personally and professionally. Karen is known as The Hope Lady because she  takes every opportunity to inspire hope by sharing her rich life experience with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world.