July 15, 2025 • 46 mins
Gratitude transforms everything—not just when life feels good, but especially during our darkest storms. This powerful conversation reveals how thankfulness works as both spiritual practice and biological necessity.
We're naturally wired for negativity. Research shows negative experiences stick to us like Velcro while positive moments slide off like Teflon. That's why gratitude requires intentional practice. Studies from neuroscientists like Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Caroline Leaf reveal that gratitude physically rewires our brains, increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex where judgment, impulse control, and empathy live. Meanwhile, thankfulness floods our bodies with feel-good chemicals while reducing stress hormones.
Brené Brown discovered that people who experience deep joy share one common denominator: consistent gratitude practice. Tony Robbins explains the neurological incompatibility—we cannot simultaneously feel gratitude and fear, bitterness, or anxiety. They cannot coexist in our brains.
Through a deeply personal story about leading through a devastating cybersecurity attack, we explore how gratitude becomes our most powerful weapon during crisis. The practice isn't about denying pain or slapping on fake positivity. Instead, it's choosing to find purpose within suffering. Jordan Peterson calls gratitude our "most protective emotion against resentment and nihilism."
The most transformative approach? Focus your gratitude on people rather than things. Science shows appreciating specific individuals—especially those who challenge you—creates faster heart transformation than generic gratitude lists. Going deep with one daily grateful thought proves more effective than superficial lists.
Ready to experience this transformation yourself? Start with one person. Write them a letter. Create a gratitude collage. Keep a jar of thankful moments. Watch what happens when you make gratitude not just an occasional feeling but a disciplined daily choice.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, good morning friend, Good morning.
Are you ready to dive intoanother game-changing principle
this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, I am Simple but game-changing.
Yes, I am.
I'm very grateful for today.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
What an interesting word, yes, well, good morning to
all our Double Dose listenersas well.
I'll just kind of set the stagea little bit for this
conversation today.
If you've been following ussince the beginning, then you
know we've been really layingthe foundation right.
First we started with the factthat God's real, and then we
dove into what it really lookslike to partner with Him, right,
(00:43):
how he's always in control.
But then we have to show up andwe have to do our part, because
everything with him is apartnership.
And then, in our last episode,we unpacked how we are, what we
think, how our thoughts areseeds that can literally rewire
our brains, either positively ornegatively.
And today we're continuing thatconversation with something
(01:04):
that's just as powerful butoften misunderstood, right.
And it's another simplepractice, simple principle that
can really shift everything, notjust when things are good, you
know, when everything's goingyour way, but also when you're
in the middle of the storm, whenyou're in the middle of the
pain, when your prayers feellike they're going unanswered
(01:25):
and like your circumstances willnever change.
And so you said it alreadycat's out of the bag.
That simple practice isgratitude, but here's the part
that makes it so misunderstood,and we're really going to dive
into this today.
Gratitude isn't just a feelingright or an emotion.
It's actually a practice, adiscipline, a choice, and it's
(01:50):
not just for sunshine andrainbows people either.
It's a daily decision that weneed to be intentional about,
and it's also not denial whenyou're in the middle of hard
times either, and we'll talk alittle bit about that today too.
It's choosing to look forwhat's still good, though, even
in the hard stuff.
So, just like our thoughts area seed, gratitude is too.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, amen.
So gratitude is a way of beingand, again, just like you said,
it's not ignoring the battleswhen they come, but it's finding
what is God teaching me to begrateful for in the moment.
And we see in Psalms 34 thatDavid says that he's going to
praise the Lord in all things.
It doesn't say just in the goodtimes, but it's even in the
trials and tribulations.
(02:33):
And we know that.
David, you know, king of Israel, he was known as a man after
God's heart.
He was constantly on the frontlines of battle, like true
physical war for the nation, andeven in those darkest moments
he still praised the Lord in thebattle.
And so, just looking at hislife as an example, how does
(02:54):
that apply to you, to us, forall of us?
And it's again, it's adiscipline, it's not an emotion,
it's a way of being.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, yeah.
And discipline really buildsconsistency.
And then it's the consistencypart, right, that truly affects
permanent change in our lives.
Rather than that once in awhile fleeting thought, I should
be more grateful for thesethings in my life.
We need to turn it into a dailypractice, a choice to look for
(03:25):
what's good even when things arehard to see.
You know Brene Brown.
A lot of us know her for all ofher vulnerability practice, but
she's also studied joy quite abit, and what's fascinating is,
in all of her research she foundthat there is one common
(03:45):
denominator across all thepeople who live with deep joy,
and that is an intentional,consistent gratitude practice.
It should be a lifestyle right,Just not something that we do on
Thanksgiving or when things aregoing well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, it's not just a biblical thing either.
It's actually a biologicalthing.
If we go back to Dr Daniel Amen, who we actually spoke about in
the last episode, you Are whatyou Think.
He goes to the attention ofcognitive attention.
He's done over 225,000 scans ofthe brain and when people
(04:25):
practice gratitude as just a wayof being, it actually increases
the activity in the prefrontalcortex and that's where our
judgment happens, our impulsecontrol happens, it's where our
empathy lives, and so the notionof literally being intentional
to lean into gratitude.
It lights up the part of ourbrain that engages other human
(04:48):
beings.
Powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It really is, and the science part is fascinating.
So also it's strengthened areaof the brain responsible for
decision-making, for emotionalregulation and for reducing
overactivity in our amygdala.
And our amygdala is our brain'sfear center, so it's where all
the fight or flight stuff comesfrom.
So what all that means is thatgratitude helps to calm our
(05:14):
fears and our anxiety, and youknow, it makes me think of Tony
Robbins too, who obviously isnot a neuroscientist by any
means, but he also speaks quitea bit, not just motivationally
but also about the sciencebehind gratitude, and he
explains that you cannotsimultaneously feel gratitude
(05:38):
and fear, or gratitude andbitterness, or gratitude or
anxiety.
Yeah, so if we're intentionalabout it, we can literally ward
off those negative thoughts.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's absolutely powerful.
Dr Caroline Leaf is another onewho goes into the effects of
gratitude into yourneuropathways in the brain and
the fastest way to regenerateneuropathways in the brain is
actually by practicingintentional gratitude.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So you know, there's other ways of you know creating
neural pathways that are healthyfor you, but the fastest way
just reinforce the fastest wayis through intentional practice
of gratitude Powerful stuff sogood, and I mean we could be
here literally all day going onand on about the studies, you
know, the scientific researchand really the books that are
(06:27):
out there, incrediblebestselling books.
But I also think of I think Imentioned him in our last
episode Dr Andrew Huberman, alsoa neuroscientist and professor.
He's talked a lot about howgratitude shifts our
neurochemistry.
It releases dopamine andserotonin, which are both of our
feel-good chemicals, and thenit reduces our cortisol, which
(06:50):
is our stress-releasing hormone.
And then another one is DrRobert Emmons I'm not sure how
to say his last name, but he'skind of considered one of the
original godfathers of sort ofgratitude research back in the
day, and he found that somethingas simple we'll talk about this
(07:12):
and how to put it into practicebut something as simple as
writing three things that you'regrateful for on a daily basis
reduces our anxiety, contributesto better sleep, improves our
immune system.
I mean all the things.
So for me I think it's amazinghow something so simple can
(07:37):
unlock so much goodness in ourlives and yet little few of us
lean into it or even rememberthat it's, you know, available.
I mean, what really gets me issociety is so quick to pump us
full of you know pharmaceuticals.
And listen, there's a place forthose right.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But I mean, sometimes maybe we just should have sent
the person home and said startwriting in your gratitude
journal, right?
Well, I mean, I think the thingwith simplicity, we think it's
simple, yeah, I mean practicegratitude, but the reality is
there's another doctor out there, dr Rick Hansen, who wrote a
book about Velcro and Teflon.
Part of the brain.
And we human beings areactually wired for the Velcro,
which is negativity, sticks tous very, very quickly and where
(08:23):
Teflon meaning positive thoughts, gratitude bounces off of us.
Wow, that's also a biblicalprinciple that we go to the
things of the flesh, things thatare not of God, and it's not a
natural instinct for us to leaninto the things of the Lord,
which is just incredible whenyou think about it.
But the point is this God'sgiven us the ability to lean in,
(08:46):
and so what Dr Rick Hansen alsofound is that when we're
intentional to lean into thething of gratitude simple in
concept, more difficult to apply, right, but the news, the good
news is is that the positivityand the gratitude can actually
start to become the Velcro thatwe need.
Positivity and the gratitudecan actually start to become the
(09:07):
Velcro that we need, and sothat's the hope and for those
that are kind of stuck maybeyou're in a storm right now and
you feel like all the negativethings are Velcro sticking to
you.
You can be intentional to turnon this way of being in
gratitude.
Oh, it's so good.
I mean you wish that itnaturally worked.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
The other way around, right, yes.
But what's interesting about?
I mean you wish that itnaturally worked the other way
around, right?
But what's interesting aboutthat study to me is at least it
actually gives us some proofthat, scientifically, it is
sometimes hard to stay ingratitude, even when things are
good.
But to your point, when thingsare going, you know, things are
difficult in your life.
(09:41):
It means we have to be thatmuch more intentional, you know.
And speaking of in your life,it means we have to be that much
more intentional, you know.
And speaking of being moreintentional when it's hard,
let's kind of talk about that.
I think a little bit aboutgetting real, about gratitude,
because when you are in thestorm, we're not at all
suggesting that it's about beingin denial, right, or slapping a
(10:04):
smile on your face, althoughacting as if sometimes works too
right.
But we don't want you tonecessarily pretend, I mean, I'm
a big fan.
If you're in the pit, sayyou're in the pit.
If something sucks, say itsucks.
Give it to God.
He wants our honest complaintsa whole lot more than he wants
(10:26):
our fake optimism.
But after you do that, thenremember that he's there and
he's listening right, and askhim for strength to get through
the storm and believe that he isnot going to leave you there.
Jordan Peterson is another onethat I love.
He speaks a lot about sufferingand says if we're human beings
(10:48):
in this life, what's inevitableis at some point we will suffer.
But he also says that we'restill responsible with most
protective emotions we have,against both resentment and
(11:09):
nihilism.
And I love that he uses thatword protective, because it's
exactly one of the many thingsthat gratitude does.
It's like putting on the fullarmor of God, because life
inevitably is going to bechaotic, right of God.
Because life inevitably isgoing to be chaotic, right.
But you know, sometimes we caneasily slip into resentment
because it's easy to push someof these things on someone else
(11:33):
or something else to blame,which kind of gives us a little
bit of a false sense of control.
But I think over time thatreally poisons your heart.
So you know, gratitude standsin direct opposition of those
things.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, you've said a couple of things that are just
worth highlighting.
We can choose to give ourgratitude away, meaning people
doing things to us, and wechoose to be resentful or become
bitter or become angry.
What I would say is that's thesignal, that's the smoke, that's
the red flag that God isactually trying to stir up in
(12:10):
your heart If you're in a placewhere you can't express
gratitude and it's just notcoming easily to you.
That is a clear signal that youcould be missing the lesson in
the storm.
I love that Right.
And so the question starts tobecome what are you needing to
let go of?
(12:31):
What's keeping you in a placewhere you can't feel, in the
moment, gratitude?
What is the source of the anger?
What's preventing you fromforgiving?
That's so good, and it's reallywhat is literally keeping you
locked.
Because the reality is this Ifwe can't move from ingratitude
(12:56):
to gratitude, we're not going tobe able to grow.
God grows us in the pain andthe suffering, 99% of the time,
not on the mountaintop, and it'sso critically important that we
actually have gratitude in thevalley, which, by human nature,
(13:17):
is the antithesis of what wethink.
We have gratitude when we're ontop of the mountain singing
from our successes, our family'sdoing awesome, we have no drama
in our life.
Praise the Lord, I'm grateful.
No, god actually says havegratitude for the drama when a
lot of people want to kick thedrama to the curb, drama where a
lot of people want to kick thedrama to the curb.
(13:37):
God actually says rest in it andfind gratitude in it.
So I want to share a littlestory about making this real.
Yeah, yeah, a couple of yearsago, 2023, and it was Good
Friday to be exact, becausecertain days are forever marked
on your mind and heart.
And, as I've described already,I have the privilege of leading
(14:00):
in technology and you know wedo these things called tabletop
exercises.
It's very common in thebusiness world and what it looks
like is if a certain event wereto happen that could disrupt a
business process, what will youdo to rise above the event, the
(14:21):
disruption?
So think through COVID.
Covid swept the world.
People had to not go into theoffice anymore.
You're pushed to go work fromhome and you can go through
tabletop exercises to say ifthis were to happen again, how
would we mobilize the workforce?
And it's all well and good whenyou do the exercise to play the
(14:42):
scenario out, but when you knowwhen all hell breaks loose, how
it actually unfolds is a littlebit different.
Yeah, so back to Good Friday,2023,.
I had the opportunity to be hitwith my first cybersecurity
attack, and let me tell you allthe tabletop exercises in the
(15:07):
world are never going to, youknow, prepare you for that.
It's not going to prepare youfor that moment.
And what people tend not torealize is when you're hit with
a cybersecurity event, you know,obviously it's get the, get the
bad actor out as soon aspossible, yeah, but then the
downstream impact it's about sixmonths worth of work.
Six months worth of work to doa stakeholder management across.
(15:28):
You know, stakeholders beinginternal, external, making sure
that you are buildingcredibility and confidence back,
and the work to just dot everyI and cross every T and make
sure that your perimeter andyour borders are secure and that
another bad actor can't get in.
It is a high stakes game andthat would stress and test my
(15:52):
leadership like no other workevent has tested my leadership
level.
I know I had to wake up everyday and the first thought is
what's going to bring, what'sgoing to happen today?
What am I going to learn today?
What am I going to have to dealwith today?
But not succumb to the fear andrise above it and be the leader
that my team needed me to be.
Right, and so, and part ofbeing the leader that they
(16:15):
needed me to be was how do Ihave gratefulness, how do I have
gratitude?
In the mess of the ugly I meanpart of a cybersecurity event
for me, you feel exposed, youfeel violated Violated is the
word I'm looking for Like justwhy people choose to spend their
time and energy intentionallyhurting you know innocent people
(16:39):
who are on the other sides ofthat cyber event is beyond me,
but you truly feel violated.
And so I'm in the middle ofthis storm.
It's high stakes, high stress.
My team is burning the midnighthour around the clock and this
is like extending.
It's a six month period and soyou have to get up every day and
make a decision.
What am I grateful for today andthese were some of the things,
(17:01):
elisa, that the Lord taught mein this storm, every day that I
have an incredible team, that Iam incredibly grateful for their
attitudes, their perseverance,their grit, their dedication to
see us through the storm to getto the other side.
I'm incredibly grateful today,and even in the moments back in
2023, for my peer group.
(17:21):
They supported me, they checkedin on me, they made sure that,
emotionally, I was okay, that myteam was okay.
They just held up my hands as Imoved the train forward my
board of directors, hugesupporters.
It's not every day you're facedwith that sort of difficulty
and you know it can go one oftwo ways and I'm so grateful
(17:43):
that I had the board ofdirectors that you know I served
with then and today, and youknow it's amazing.
I can look at so many momentsthroughout that six month period
where God literally showed updaily and his supernatural
wisdom just was deposited intomy mind and my heart.
He gave me a battle plan forthe next step and I got to learn
(18:04):
.
Oh my gosh, you want to talkabout a learning opportunity.
Grateful for the learningopportunity because I'm working
with third parties who they arethe best of the best and I was a
sponge for six months justabsorbing and learning.
So there's so much to begrateful for.
So, coming out on the otherside, fatigued and tired,
(18:27):
reality, human being, we allwere, but incredibly grateful
for the opportunity to first win.
We won, okay, we got to theirside, we won.
We beat the bad actor and wefortified the team, the
connectivity, the relationshipswe learned together, we grew
together.
So there's so much to begrateful for in the blessing of
(18:49):
that valley.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, and how do you look back on it now?
And how about your team?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
That's the thing, it's like fortified, resilient,
and I mean when you do battletogether, there's nothing that's
going to fortify and build ateam you know faster, better.
Yeah, I wish it weren't thecase but it's the case, and when
you go through the, the testingis the growth.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Exactly when you go through it together, you come
out the other side together.
So incredibly grateful, yeah,how about you?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
incredibly grateful, yeah, how about you, for me, I
instantly think of when I was inthe pit, really, when I had to
dig deep, you know, forgratitude, where some days,
sometimes, all you had to leanon was the simplest of truths,
which is, you know, thank youGod for waking me up today,
right, or the breath in my lungs, or my healthy body, or the
(19:34):
sun's shining kind of thing.
You know, I shared a little bitin our first episode with regard
to my testimony, and you knowthat was a season where I felt
like it was the worst thing thatcould have possibly have
happened to me.
You know, there were days wherethe pain was so heavy that I
just wanted something to come inand take it all away.
(19:55):
But even through all of that, Iknew that God was there with me
.
I knew that he wasn't going toleave me in that storm and, to
your point that, you know,through it I did try to lean on.
What is it here to show me?
You know it makes me think ofscripture.
Because of the Lord's greatlove, we are not consumed.
(20:18):
His mercies are new everymorning.
I love mornings and I know youdo too, because one of the
biggest reasons I love them isbecause they're a new beginning
right.
It's an opportunity every dayfor us to be better, to do
better than yesterday, and Ithink that verse can really be a
lifeline for everyone, but onlyif we're intentional about
(20:40):
leaning into it.
And then to your point aboutcoming through it.
I mean talk about gratitude.
You know, in spite of the storm, what once you know felt like,
you know, the worst possiblething that could happen to me
really turned out to be the bestpossible thing Because in my
case, like your similar storyand what you learned through it,
(21:02):
it didn't come to destroy.
It came to sort of burn awayeverything that wasn't meant for
me.
It came to shine a light onthings that were things I had to
deal with and just taught me atremendous amount.
You know, and I realize it'seasy to too, when you're on the
other side sitting where I amtoday, so it's not lost on me
(21:23):
that we have people who arelistening in this morning that
actually might be in the middleof a storm right now with a big
open wound, but I think both ofus have learned that healing
doesn't necessarily happenimmediately.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, and I would just say, you know, we're
probably all in a storm, likeI'm in a storm right now.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
I mean there's all varying degrees.
That's a great point.
There's always storms going on.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And you know I gave an example of something that I
had to lead through in themarketplace, but it's not just
about work.
I mean I love what I do, I lovethe people that I do it with,
and when you're talking aboutcybersecurity as an example,
cyber is a very serious thingand if you don't lead through
well, with excellence and wisdomfrom above, it could have a
(22:13):
very different outcome.
I mean, I'm directlyresponsible for a couple
thousand people, including overa million people who use our
technology, and so the impact isfar-reaching.
I mean it impacts the entirenation.
If Avid Exchange has a bad day,so I carry that weight with
huge responsibility and I careabout the people's livelihoods
(22:36):
who come to work every day, andso it's a real-life work example
that I used.
It's very personal to me aswell, and that storm was in 2023
, but there's active stormsright now, and so Some of the
storms that I'm in right now,there is a huge part of me that
wishes Lord, just take it away,just take it away, and then, if
(22:59):
he did take it away, I wouldn'tbe learning the lessons I'm
learning real time.
I mean he's teaching me wherethe boundaries of my compassion
were, where my compassion endedand judgment began and he's
tearing down those walls.
(23:20):
Because the thing is is Godwent after the one, he didn't go
after the 99.
He went after I just I love thewoman who was committing
adultery and you know, theSadducees pulled her into the
circle and they were going tostone her to death.
I think about the religiousleaders of the day were going to
(23:43):
stone this woman to death andJesus comes up on the scene and
says the one who has not sinnedthrow the first stone.
And they all just went away,they all scattered away.
And in that moment, you knowshe's looking at Jesus and Jesus
just picks her up and he hadcompassion on her, he loved her,
(24:04):
he saw through her choice toher pain.
And when his compassion met herpain, that's where real
transformation began.
And he says you know, you areforgiven, go, sin no more.
And she turned her life around.
And what God is showing me iswhere my compassion turns to
(24:25):
self-righteousness, which thenbecomes judgment.
That's good.
And I can no longer.
My compassion can't meet thepain of the person in front of
me.
And then where's thetransformation?
Yeah, it's the transformation.
Yeah, it's wow.
Okay.
So storms like that that areactive in my life, like I'm
grateful.
You know we pray, teach me, letme be more like you, right?
(24:48):
And the answer comes in wildways.
Great point, like the valleysstart coming.
A great point you.
(25:19):
But God will allow the worstsituations that we could walk
through transform us into abetter version of ourselves if
we let him.
Yeah, it's that free will thing.
We can either be succumbed tothe circumstances or we can be
victors.
And it starts through gratitude.
Like what is God showing me andteaching me in the darkest of
darkest?
It's literally.
It gives us a new lens.
It starts to turn scarcity intosufficiency.
(25:41):
It starts to turn stuntedgrowth into growth opportunities
.
It really becomes the pathwayto do abundantly more than we
can ask, think or imagine.
It begins with gratitude.
Romans 8, 28,.
God uses all things to the goodof those who love him, who are
called according to his purposes.
So he uses all things the good,the bad, the ugly for his
(26:05):
purposes.
So good, so good.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I love that you use the word allow and how he
doesn't necessarily remove usfrom the storm immediately.
You know he doesn't bring thestorm on, but he does allow
sometimes, us to stay there fora while, and it isn't a huge
part of that is because and wecan't see it when we're in it,
but he's preparing us forsomething bigger, you know, like
(26:27):
a bigger promise, a biggerresponsibility, um, that we need
to build, you know, ourresilience.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, there's always purpose in the pain, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
No doubt, and gratitude is literally a weapon.
Right, we need all the weaponswe can get.
Yes, we do Right More and moreevery day.
I mean, you know, with socialmedia and culture, and we're
just getting hammered withopportunities to feel fearful,
anxiety, you know, discontent.
(26:56):
There's just so many things outthere, unfortunately, that can
really steal our joy and ourpeace and our perspective.
And that's what the enemy wants.
He wants us to live small, livescared, live fearful, rather
than step into everything thatGod has intended for us.
So you know, gratitude is oneof the ways that we put on that
(27:19):
full armor of God.
You know when we becomedangerous against it and it
pulls us out of self-pity.
You know, too instantaneously.
Right Enter his gates withthanksgiving as.
Psalm 104 says Gratitude is howwe really access the presence
of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
God Amen, it's so true.
You know, dr Daniel Amen callsit our natural antidepressant.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So you don't need to again.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
You said it earlier.
You know doctors are very quickto put us on all sorts of
different pills, but if we trulyjust want to go natural way?
I mean, gratitude is the body'snatural antidepressant.
It's powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It really is.
It's a combat strategy, if youwill right.
Yes, dr Sean Aker, if that's howyou say his last name.
He's a renowned positivepsychologist, author and speaker
.
He founded a couple of positiveresearch institutes and he has
one of the most viewed TED Talksout there called Happy Secret
(28:23):
to Better Work, and he foundthat people who practice
gratitude are 31% moreproductive, three times more
creative and, of course, theyreport significantly higher
satisfaction in relationshipsand in work.
You know, I mean, all of thatmakes perfect sense.
Um, because I believe thathappiness and joy and and peace
(28:46):
and gratitude all of that is iscontagious.
In fact, I saw um recently,this, this fat, another person
that I follow on InstagramVanessa Van Edwards, I believe,
is her name.
She either did a study orshared a study that you can
catch fear.
I don't know all the details ofit, but literally people could
(29:10):
smell fear on somebody else.
Well, I guess animals do right,and that you can catch it.
So then the flip side must betrue, right?
So it really does matter whoyou hang with and how we're
intentional about our practice.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, I bet it goes back to that energy thing.
So we, we as human beings, putoff energy and you can literally
we talk about catching things.
There's waves, energy wavesthat literally leave the human
body, positive or negative, andwe can feel it.
And so when you walk into aroom and you feel a room off,
(29:46):
you can feel tension, with noone saying a word.
It's literally the.
This is scientifically proven.
We'll do a future show on it,but it's incredibly powerful.
You can measure energy positiveenergy and negative energy off
the human being.
So not only can you catch thefear.
You're right.
You can actually pick up ifpeople aren't being authentic,
if they're authentic in love, ifit's fake lipstick on a pig, if
(30:09):
you will right, we as humanscan pick it all up.
So yeah, that's why I didn't doa good job of that historically
, can pick it all up.
So, yeah, that's why I didn't doa good job of that historically
.
That's funny, but yeah.
So this notion of when we startto say let's lean into
gratitude, people can catch thegratitude.
(30:33):
I mean, don't you love beingaround people who just live in a
state of gratefulness?
Oh, absolutely.
I mean it just lifts you.
All boats rise with the tide,and so let's talk about how we
actually start putting this intopractice, especially for those
people who are in a hard spotright now.
What can you do?
And it starts with beingintentional to pick one thing.
You can just literally juststart small, pick one thing per
(30:56):
day to say what am I gratefulfor and what do I mean by that?
It's so critically important.
Science also backs it's aboutdepth, not breadth.
So you've might've heard makethe list of bottom out 100
things you're grateful for andjust write it out.
That's great, but if you reallywant to have heart
(31:16):
transformation, depth is better.
So you can literally just pickone thing per day that you're
grateful for and go as deep asyou can into why you're grateful
.
Okay, okay About that.
One thing, one thing, okay.
And this is incredibly powerful.
The science also tells you thatif you focus on people who are
(31:37):
you grateful for who are yougrateful for, not what are you
grateful for it's actually goingto transform you faster.
So when we think aboutgratitude towards another human
being, it radically transformsour minds and our hearts.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I love that In a positive way.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I love that, isn't that great.
Because, what is the first andgreatest commandment?
To love the Lord, your God,with all your heart, mind and
soul, and to love your neighboras yourself.
It makes sense, and so, if youwant to talk about heart
transformation, focus on aperson.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, what's why giving and volunteering is so
powerful right, yeah, well thenlet's break it down.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
So if I started today with I'm grateful for the one
person I could say, I could namemy husband, john, and so depth
would be well.
Why am I grateful for him?
Because, well beyond his goodlooks and his sexiness, he's my
Greek God.
On this side, I love it.
He has just a charismatic heartand he is a big teddy bear.
(32:32):
He's very strong, he's a strongman.
He's not a wimpy man, he's astrong man's man, right, but he
loves fiercely and he's superintentional.
I mean, he's thinking aboutokay, perfect example.
Last week I had the opportunityfor work to travel to San
Francisco and then I foundmyself in Chicago and then I had
(32:54):
to get back to Charlotte and itwas this whirlwind of travel
and when I was in Chicago,literally they canceled my
flight.
Well, my husband, he tracks mewhere I'm at for safety, not
because he's a control freak,he's not a stalker, but he sees
that my flight's canceled andhe's Johnny on the spot, no pun
intended, even though his name'sJohn, johnny on the spot.
(33:14):
He's on with American Airlinesmaking sure that I'm getting
rebooked on the next flight andthat my hotel is booked, so I
have a place to lay my head, Imean all the things, because he
wants to make sure I'm okay andhe wants to take stress off me
before I even realized stresswas being put on me.
But that is something to begrateful for.
So when I think about that, I'mgoing deep into why am I
(33:40):
grateful for him?
Not just I'm grateful for myhusband, john.
Today it's literally getspecific, and that's you know
that specificity will reinforcethe position of your heart and
bring you into a being ofgratitude.
So good, it's, so powerful.
Yeah, do you want to shareanything that you like to think
(34:03):
about when it comes to puttinggratitude into practice?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I think similar to our last episode when we were
talking about.
You know you are what you think, inevitably.
You know complaints are goingto come up, right, negative
thoughts are going to come up,and I would just encourage
people to try to flip the scripton that a little bit, you know.
Switch the complaint tosomething that you're grateful
(34:28):
for each time it comes in.
Because, again back to what wetalked about with neuroscience
and Tony Robbins out withneuroscience and Tony Robbins,
you can't feel gratitude andfear or anxiety or stress, all
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
You know, it's true, when you talk about, I think
about sandpaper.
Who are the people in your lifethat are sandpaper, that just
grate up against you, that areopening your heart wounds, that
just cause you to be stressed oragitated?
Who are those people?
And if you really want to getcrazy and transform fast, be
(35:03):
grateful for those people.
God says to love our enemiesHard sometimes, yeah, and if you
pick one person and you couldpick the person who's literally
just tearing up your heart andyou could be grateful for that
person because God is teachingyou something.
So am I grateful for the stormthat I'm in right now, for some
(35:28):
of the actions that a person hastaken that has caused
downstream impact on me?
Absolutely not.
Sure, not grateful for thosedecisions.
But I am grateful that throughthose actions, is teaching me to
love better.
Absolutely not, sure, notgrateful for those decisions,
but I am grateful that throughthose actions, is teaching me to
love better and bigger.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, right, I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
And so how do I rise above it?
And what God has taught me isbe grateful for, find the good
in the person, despite the painthat I see, and call that into
action, declare it.
You know, god says we walk byfaith, not by sight.
So believe that, just as Godhas a plan and a purpose for
(36:03):
your life, he wants to prosperyou, to give you hope in a
future.
Believe it for the person who'syour enemy in front of you, and
you could be the very vesselthat God needs to use to pray
that person into their calling,into their rightful position as
an heir to the throne room ofChrist, that is powerful, right
Amen.
(36:23):
And so that's what it's calledto be a Christ follower.
It's not to love in the easy,it's to love through to the pain
.
We are called to call peoplehigher.
You know what I mean.
Now, we can't make people sayyes, but we can certainly
believe for them standing in thegap when no one else is
standing in the gap for thatperson.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Yeah, I was going to say it just came to mind.
Something else that reallyhelps me when I keep this in my
conscious is that I think tomyself and scripture, frankly,
is very clear about this I thinkto myself, and scripture,
frankly, is very clear aboutthis If we can't be grateful for
what we have already right,even if it's very little, how on
(37:09):
earth could we expect God tobless us with more?
And that's the other big partabout gratitude that I don't
even think that we talked aboutis it literally opens the door
to abundance as well.
Like not only does it flip ourperspective, but once you start
to focus on just one small thingto be grateful for, you start
(37:29):
to feel different.
But inevitably the floodgatesyou know more often than not
start to open up where blessingsand abundance start flowing in,
so that you even have morethings to be grateful for.
I mean, it is a phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Well, it's the whole thing of you reap what you sow.
People typically, you know,will teach on that verse when it
comes to tithing or, you know,giving offerings, where if you
sow money in, you're going toget more money out, right which
is a true biblical concept, bythe way.
But the reality is you reapwhat you sow.
If you are planting good seeds,if you're planting seeds of
gratitude, you're going to getgratitude right back on you and
(38:06):
you're going to get theabundance that you're talking
about.
That increases your capacity tobe more and more grateful.
So again, yeah, you are whatyou think and if you begin with
gratitude, you will reap theharvest of gratefulness.
It's a beautiful thing.
I love it.
So I want to just run through acouple things.
Yeah, please, just a coupledisciplines that people can
(38:29):
start to exercise this muscle ofgratitude we already talked
about.
Pick your one thing.
Go deep.
You don't have to go wide,meaning don't come up with a
list of a thousand.
Be authentic.
Pick the one thing, even ifit's your biggest struggle, and
just lean in with God in prayerand say what are you calling me
to be grateful for in thismoment, with this problem
(38:51):
statement?
Or just this blessing?
What do you want to callforward in the blessing?
Write it out.
We said in the last episode ifyou write it down, your
exponentially higher rate ofreturn you're going to get it
into your mind.
Your brain is going to go intoyour heart and really transform,
cover everything in prayer.
(39:11):
So, as you're journaling it out, just pray, pray, pray, pray,
prayer, pray.
God moves.
He says you do not have becauseyou do not ask right, and he
says come to me and everythingCome to me and you're going to
get answers from me.
So we just cover it and code itin prayer.
And I was just saying to myhusband last night we were
walking around the neighborhood,stopped by the mailbox, pulled.
(39:32):
We were walking around theneighborhood, stopped by the
mailbox, pulled all the mail outof the mailbox and I'm flipping
through.
I'm like, ooh, do we have anygood mail?
It's all junk, junk mail.
I'm like you know what?
I miss letters.
You know when you used to go tothe mailbox?
and you would have a letter froma friend like a pen pal.
Absolutely.
I'm like I missed that and solet's bring that back.
It's a lost art.
Yeah Right, let's write lettersof gratitude to people.
(39:55):
It's one thing to think it, wecan text it, it's great, it's
quick.
But what if you hand write anote and drop it in the mailbox?
I have a box where I savespecial things like that I bet
everybody does yes.
So see, yes, me too.
(40:16):
In a long time, you betterwrite me a letter.
I'm going to get on it, and thelast two things I'll share
around gratitude exercises is acollage, and so the people that
you're grateful for, again,people have a higher.
When we pour into the art ofgratitude on people, it's going
to transform us faster than ifwe say I'm thankful for my house
, or I'm thankful for my car,I'm thankful for the food I got
(40:37):
to eat today All those thingsare true, but people is where
the richness comes in, and so ifwe make a collage of people's
faces and the differentcharacteristics about that
person that we appreciate.
So if I were having you on mycollage, it would be your
beautiful face with all sorts offitness stuff, because you're a
beast when it comes to the gymand you love to read and just
(41:01):
all the things that I appreciateabout you.
Visually, I would have thingslike a vision board, but it's a
grateful board.
These are the people that I'mgrateful for, and then these are
the things that I love andadmire about them and I'm
grateful for inspiring me to youknow.
You inspire me to be physicallyfit.
Thank you, alisa.
Very cool Right.
And then, or a grateful jar,and so you've heard it.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I have heard that I love that idea too.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Put it in a jar when you're having a bad moment, go
pick one of those things backout, read it.
It fuels your tank right backup, so good.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
So good.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
So good.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Let me share, before we close out, a short gratitude
story, speaking of somebody else, because I haven't even shared
this with you and this justhappened, literally, at least
rounded out yesterday, soprobably about six or eight
weeks ago, an early morning Iran out of eggs and I have to
have my eggs every morning Goingback to your fitness.
I'm not even sure shouldn't saythis out loud.
I ran out of eggs and I have tohave my eggs every morning
Going back to your fitness.
I'm not even sure I shouldn'tsay this out loud.
(41:57):
I'm not even sure I brush myteeth.
But I ran out of the house,practically in my pajamas, to
Harris Teeter early in themorning and I happened to be
wearing.
This is also just an incrediblestory about living your truth
with love of Jesus out loud.
So I was wearing my umtransform, not conformed
sweatshirt.
Oh yeah, it's got the wholeRomans verse on the back.
(42:19):
And and I hear this oldergentleman say, oh, you know,
look at that verse.
And I turn around um, he's gotlong white hair, thick white
mustache and he's working theproduce section.
He's a Harris Teeter employeethere and we start to chat and
he says I can't believe you'rewearing this shirt.
I used to be in a men's Biblestudy many years ago and he
(42:43):
always won trivia and he saidthat verse was the one verse
that somehow he stumbled on andhe'll never forget it now to
this day, because it was the onetime that he lost trivia.
So that's how the conversationstarted.
Well, I won't go into all thedetails, but within two minutes
we're in the middle of theproduce section and Harris
(43:03):
Teeter crying, praying over him.
He's getting ready to go intoliterally getting ready to go
into another painful surgery.
Getting ready to go intoanother painful surgery he's
dealt with.
I want to say that it's bladdercancer, but I'm not certain.
But he had tears streaming downhis eyes explaining these
(43:24):
horrendous, painful surgeries.
He should have died five yearsago.
God is so good, god is sofaithful.
He didn't need to save me.
I mean the man is like a walkingtestimony for the goodness of
the Lord in the middle of thestorm and tremendous pain, right
.
So he went and he had anothersurgery.
(43:47):
Then, like two weeks after that, I saw him again.
We got to catch up.
He was doing well, he needed tohave another procedure, had to
get delayed because he got sick,yada yada.
He asked me for my phone number.
He said when I ring the belland I know God will make sure
I'm going to be able to ring thecancer free bell I would like
(44:08):
you to be there.
And so I gave him my phonenumber and I knew he was going
in for surgery literally thenext day when I saw him that day
.
And so yesterday he called meand we had a wonderful
conversation and you could hearthe tears over the phone.
He said I am so over the moon.
(44:28):
I have not been so happy in thelongest time His surgeries went
beautifully, been so happy inthe longest time His surgeries
went beautifully.
He said on August 29th he'sgoing to get to ring the bell
and that I have an opportunityto be there.
And he was like and thank youfor being my friend.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
It's the sweetest thing, but again, the thing that
blows me away about this man is, I mean, the light of the Lord,
amen, despite the storm,despite the storm, anyway, and
you're spreading hope and lightresponsibly.
That's right, he sure is.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I love it.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Thanks for sharing that.
That's a good blessing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
And I know it's blessing people who are
listening, so yeah, let's wrapit up Gr.
And I know it's blessing peoplewho are listening, so yeah,
let's wrap it up.
Gratitude does not deny thehard things, but it gives us a
new lens to view the hard thingsthrough.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
And it can really just help blossom us into who
God created us to be.
Yeah, just the root ofgratitude.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Yeah, so I encourage everyone be intentional for the
next 30 days at least, and watchwhat happens in and through you
.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yeah, watch, god blow your mind, yeah, so with that,
let's close in prayer.
Okay, okay.
Heavenly Father, we just loveyou and we are so grateful for
your goodness and your mercythat gets renewed every single
morning when we open our eyes.
Lord, I thank you that you aregiving us eyes to see in the
good and in the bad, thatthere's so much that we can be
(45:57):
grateful for.
Lord.
Thank you for just continuingto be so faithful, to direct
each and every step intransforming us into who you
need and want us to be, for yourglory.
We love you, god.
In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Amen.
Well, good morning friend, Good morning.
Are you ready to dive intoanother game-changing principle
this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, I am Simple but game-changing.
Yes, I am.
I'm very grateful for today.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
What an interesting word, yes, well, good morning to
all our Double Dose listenersas well.
I'll just kind of set the stagea little bit for this
conversation today.
If you've been following ussince the beginning, then you
know we've been really layingthe foundation right.
First we started with the factthat God's real, and then we
dove into what it really lookslike to partner with Him, right,
(00:43):
how he's always in control.
But then we have to show up andwe have to do our part, because
everything with him is apartnership.
And then, in our last episode,we unpacked how we are, what we
think, how our thoughts areseeds that can literally rewire
our brains, either positively ornegatively.
And today we're continuing thatconversation with something
(01:04):
that's just as powerful butoften misunderstood, right.
And it's another simplepractice, simple principle that
can really shift everything, notjust when things are good, you
know, when everything's goingyour way, but also when you're
in the middle of the storm, whenyou're in the middle of the
pain, when your prayers feellike they're going unanswered
(01:25):
and like your circumstances willnever change.
And so you said it alreadycat's out of the bag.
That simple practice isgratitude, but here's the part
that makes it so misunderstood,and we're really going to dive
into this today.
Gratitude isn't just a feelingright or an emotion.
It's actually a practice, adiscipline, a choice, and it's
(01:50):
not just for sunshine andrainbows people either.
It's a daily decision that weneed to be intentional about,
and it's also not denial whenyou're in the middle of hard
times either, and we'll talk alittle bit about that today too.
It's choosing to look forwhat's still good, though, even
in the hard stuff.
So, just like our thoughts area seed, gratitude is too.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, amen.
So gratitude is a way of beingand, again, just like you said,
it's not ignoring the battleswhen they come, but it's finding
what is God teaching me to begrateful for in the moment.
And we see in Psalms 34 thatDavid says that he's going to
praise the Lord in all things.
It doesn't say just in the goodtimes, but it's even in the
trials and tribulations.
(02:33):
And we know that.
David, you know, king of Israel, he was known as a man after
God's heart.
He was constantly on the frontlines of battle, like true
physical war for the nation, andeven in those darkest moments
he still praised the Lord in thebattle.
And so, just looking at hislife as an example, how does
(02:54):
that apply to you, to us, forall of us?
And it's again, it's adiscipline, it's not an emotion,
it's a way of being.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, yeah.
And discipline really buildsconsistency.
And then it's the consistencypart, right, that truly affects
permanent change in our lives.
Rather than that once in awhile fleeting thought, I should
be more grateful for thesethings in my life.
We need to turn it into a dailypractice, a choice to look for
(03:25):
what's good even when things arehard to see.
You know Brene Brown.
A lot of us know her for all ofher vulnerability practice, but
she's also studied joy quite abit, and what's fascinating is,
in all of her research she foundthat there is one common
(03:45):
denominator across all thepeople who live with deep joy,
and that is an intentional,consistent gratitude practice.
It should be a lifestyle right,Just not something that we do on
Thanksgiving or when things aregoing well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, it's not just a biblical thing either.
It's actually a biologicalthing.
If we go back to Dr Daniel Amen, who we actually spoke about in
the last episode, you Are whatyou Think.
He goes to the attention ofcognitive attention.
He's done over 225,000 scans ofthe brain and when people
(04:25):
practice gratitude as just a wayof being, it actually increases
the activity in the prefrontalcortex and that's where our
judgment happens, our impulsecontrol happens, it's where our
empathy lives, and so the notionof literally being intentional
to lean into gratitude.
It lights up the part of ourbrain that engages other human
(04:48):
beings.
Powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It really is, and the science part is fascinating.
So also it's strengthened areaof the brain responsible for
decision-making, for emotionalregulation and for reducing
overactivity in our amygdala.
And our amygdala is our brain'sfear center, so it's where all
the fight or flight stuff comesfrom.
So what all that means is thatgratitude helps to calm our
(05:14):
fears and our anxiety, and youknow, it makes me think of Tony
Robbins too, who obviously isnot a neuroscientist by any
means, but he also speaks quitea bit, not just motivationally
but also about the sciencebehind gratitude, and he
explains that you cannotsimultaneously feel gratitude
(05:38):
and fear, or gratitude andbitterness, or gratitude or
anxiety.
Yeah, so if we're intentionalabout it, we can literally ward
off those negative thoughts.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's absolutely powerful.
Dr Caroline Leaf is another onewho goes into the effects of
gratitude into yourneuropathways in the brain and
the fastest way to regenerateneuropathways in the brain is
actually by practicingintentional gratitude.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So you know, there's other ways of you know creating
neural pathways that are healthyfor you, but the fastest way
just reinforce the fastest wayis through intentional practice
of gratitude Powerful stuff sogood, and I mean we could be
here literally all day going onand on about the studies, you
know, the scientific researchand really the books that are
(06:27):
out there, incrediblebestselling books.
But I also think of I think Imentioned him in our last
episode Dr Andrew Huberman, alsoa neuroscientist and professor.
He's talked a lot about howgratitude shifts our
neurochemistry.
It releases dopamine andserotonin, which are both of our
feel-good chemicals, and thenit reduces our cortisol, which
(06:50):
is our stress-releasing hormone.
And then another one is DrRobert Emmons I'm not sure how
to say his last name, but he'skind of considered one of the
original godfathers of sort ofgratitude research back in the
day, and he found that somethingas simple we'll talk about this
(07:12):
and how to put it into practicebut something as simple as
writing three things that you'regrateful for on a daily basis
reduces our anxiety, contributesto better sleep, improves our
immune system.
I mean all the things.
So for me I think it's amazinghow something so simple can
(07:37):
unlock so much goodness in ourlives and yet little few of us
lean into it or even rememberthat it's, you know, available.
I mean, what really gets me issociety is so quick to pump us
full of you know pharmaceuticals.
And listen, there's a place forthose right.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But I mean, sometimes maybe we just should have sent
the person home and said startwriting in your gratitude
journal, right?
Well, I mean, I think the thingwith simplicity, we think it's
simple, yeah, I mean practicegratitude, but the reality is
there's another doctor out there, dr Rick Hansen, who wrote a
book about Velcro and Teflon.
Part of the brain.
And we human beings areactually wired for the Velcro,
which is negativity, sticks tous very, very quickly and where
(08:23):
Teflon meaning positive thoughts, gratitude bounces off of us.
Wow, that's also a biblicalprinciple that we go to the
things of the flesh, things thatare not of God, and it's not a
natural instinct for us to leaninto the things of the Lord,
which is just incredible whenyou think about it.
But the point is this God'sgiven us the ability to lean in,
(08:46):
and so what Dr Rick Hansen alsofound is that when we're
intentional to lean into thething of gratitude simple in
concept, more difficult to apply, right, but the news, the good
news is is that the positivityand the gratitude can actually
start to become the Velcro thatwe need.
Positivity and the gratitudecan actually start to become the
(09:07):
Velcro that we need, and sothat's the hope and for those
that are kind of stuck maybeyou're in a storm right now and
you feel like all the negativethings are Velcro sticking to
you.
You can be intentional to turnon this way of being in
gratitude.
Oh, it's so good.
I mean you wish that itnaturally worked.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
The other way around, right, yes.
But what's interesting about?
I mean you wish that itnaturally worked the other way
around, right?
But what's interesting aboutthat study to me is at least it
actually gives us some proofthat, scientifically, it is
sometimes hard to stay ingratitude, even when things are
good.
But to your point, when thingsare going, you know, things are
difficult in your life.
(09:41):
It means we have to be thatmuch more intentional, you know.
And speaking of in your life,it means we have to be that much
more intentional, you know.
And speaking of being moreintentional when it's hard,
let's kind of talk about that.
I think a little bit aboutgetting real, about gratitude,
because when you are in thestorm, we're not at all
suggesting that it's about beingin denial, right, or slapping a
(10:04):
smile on your face, althoughacting as if sometimes works too
right.
But we don't want you tonecessarily pretend, I mean, I'm
a big fan.
If you're in the pit, sayyou're in the pit.
If something sucks, say itsucks.
Give it to God.
He wants our honest complaintsa whole lot more than he wants
(10:26):
our fake optimism.
But after you do that, thenremember that he's there and
he's listening right, and askhim for strength to get through
the storm and believe that he isnot going to leave you there.
Jordan Peterson is another onethat I love.
He speaks a lot about sufferingand says if we're human beings
(10:48):
in this life, what's inevitableis at some point we will suffer.
But he also says that we'restill responsible with most
protective emotions we have,against both resentment and
(11:09):
nihilism.
And I love that he uses thatword protective, because it's
exactly one of the many thingsthat gratitude does.
It's like putting on the fullarmor of God, because life
inevitably is going to bechaotic, right of God.
Because life inevitably isgoing to be chaotic, right.
But you know, sometimes we caneasily slip into resentment
because it's easy to push someof these things on someone else
(11:33):
or something else to blame,which kind of gives us a little
bit of a false sense of control.
But I think over time thatreally poisons your heart.
So you know, gratitude standsin direct opposition of those
things.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, you've said a couple of things that are just
worth highlighting.
We can choose to give ourgratitude away, meaning people
doing things to us, and wechoose to be resentful or become
bitter or become angry.
What I would say is that's thesignal, that's the smoke, that's
the red flag that God isactually trying to stir up in
(12:10):
your heart If you're in a placewhere you can't express
gratitude and it's just notcoming easily to you.
That is a clear signal that youcould be missing the lesson in
the storm.
I love that Right.
And so the question starts tobecome what are you needing to
let go of?
(12:31):
What's keeping you in a placewhere you can't feel, in the
moment, gratitude?
What is the source of the anger?
What's preventing you fromforgiving?
That's so good, and it's reallywhat is literally keeping you
locked.
Because the reality is this Ifwe can't move from ingratitude
(12:56):
to gratitude, we're not going tobe able to grow.
God grows us in the pain andthe suffering, 99% of the time,
not on the mountaintop, and it'sso critically important that we
actually have gratitude in thevalley, which, by human nature,
(13:17):
is the antithesis of what wethink.
We have gratitude when we're ontop of the mountain singing
from our successes, our family'sdoing awesome, we have no drama
in our life.
Praise the Lord, I'm grateful.
No, god actually says havegratitude for the drama when a
lot of people want to kick thedrama to the curb, drama where a
lot of people want to kick thedrama to the curb.
(13:37):
God actually says rest in it andfind gratitude in it.
So I want to share a littlestory about making this real.
Yeah, yeah, a couple of yearsago, 2023, and it was Good
Friday to be exact, becausecertain days are forever marked
on your mind and heart.
And, as I've described already,I have the privilege of leading
(14:00):
in technology and you know wedo these things called tabletop
exercises.
It's very common in thebusiness world and what it looks
like is if a certain event wereto happen that could disrupt a
business process, what will youdo to rise above the event, the
(14:21):
disruption?
So think through COVID.
Covid swept the world.
People had to not go into theoffice anymore.
You're pushed to go work fromhome and you can go through
tabletop exercises to say ifthis were to happen again, how
would we mobilize the workforce?
And it's all well and good whenyou do the exercise to play the
(14:42):
scenario out, but when you knowwhen all hell breaks loose, how
it actually unfolds is a littlebit different.
Yeah, so back to Good Friday,2023,.
I had the opportunity to be hitwith my first cybersecurity
attack, and let me tell you allthe tabletop exercises in the
(15:07):
world are never going to, youknow, prepare you for that.
It's not going to prepare youfor that moment.
And what people tend not torealize is when you're hit with
a cybersecurity event, you know,obviously it's get the, get the
bad actor out as soon aspossible, yeah, but then the
downstream impact it's about sixmonths worth of work.
Six months worth of work to doa stakeholder management across.
(15:28):
You know, stakeholders beinginternal, external, making sure
that you are buildingcredibility and confidence back,
and the work to just dot everyI and cross every T and make
sure that your perimeter andyour borders are secure and that
another bad actor can't get in.
It is a high stakes game andthat would stress and test my
(15:52):
leadership like no other workevent has tested my leadership
level.
I know I had to wake up everyday and the first thought is
what's going to bring, what'sgoing to happen today?
What am I going to learn today?
What am I going to have to dealwith today?
But not succumb to the fear andrise above it and be the leader
that my team needed me to be.
Right, and so, and part ofbeing the leader that they
(16:15):
needed me to be was how do Ihave gratefulness, how do I have
gratitude?
In the mess of the ugly I meanpart of a cybersecurity event
for me, you feel exposed, youfeel violated Violated is the
word I'm looking for Like justwhy people choose to spend their
time and energy intentionallyhurting you know innocent people
(16:39):
who are on the other sides ofthat cyber event is beyond me,
but you truly feel violated.
And so I'm in the middle ofthis storm.
It's high stakes, high stress.
My team is burning the midnighthour around the clock and this
is like extending.
It's a six month period and soyou have to get up every day and
make a decision.
What am I grateful for today andthese were some of the things,
(17:01):
elisa, that the Lord taught mein this storm, every day that I
have an incredible team, that Iam incredibly grateful for their
attitudes, their perseverance,their grit, their dedication to
see us through the storm to getto the other side.
I'm incredibly grateful today,and even in the moments back in
2023, for my peer group.
(17:21):
They supported me, they checkedin on me, they made sure that,
emotionally, I was okay, that myteam was okay.
They just held up my hands as Imoved the train forward my
board of directors, hugesupporters.
It's not every day you're facedwith that sort of difficulty
and you know it can go one oftwo ways and I'm so grateful
(17:43):
that I had the board ofdirectors that you know I served
with then and today, and youknow it's amazing.
I can look at so many momentsthroughout that six month period
where God literally showed updaily and his supernatural
wisdom just was deposited intomy mind and my heart.
He gave me a battle plan forthe next step and I got to learn
(18:04):
.
Oh my gosh, you want to talkabout a learning opportunity.
Grateful for the learningopportunity because I'm working
with third parties who they arethe best of the best and I was a
sponge for six months justabsorbing and learning.
So there's so much to begrateful for.
So, coming out on the otherside, fatigued and tired,
(18:27):
reality, human being, we allwere, but incredibly grateful
for the opportunity to first win.
We won, okay, we got to theirside, we won.
We beat the bad actor and wefortified the team, the
connectivity, the relationshipswe learned together, we grew
together.
So there's so much to begrateful for in the blessing of
(18:49):
that valley.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, and how do you look back on it now?
And how about your team?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
That's the thing, it's like fortified, resilient,
and I mean when you do battletogether, there's nothing that's
going to fortify and build ateam you know faster, better.
Yeah, I wish it weren't thecase but it's the case, and when
you go through the, the testingis the growth.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Exactly when you go through it together, you come
out the other side together.
So incredibly grateful, yeah,how about you?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
incredibly grateful, yeah, how about you, for me, I
instantly think of when I was inthe pit, really, when I had to
dig deep, you know, forgratitude, where some days,
sometimes, all you had to leanon was the simplest of truths,
which is, you know, thank youGod for waking me up today,
right, or the breath in my lungs, or my healthy body, or the
(19:34):
sun's shining kind of thing.
You know, I shared a little bitin our first episode with regard
to my testimony, and you knowthat was a season where I felt
like it was the worst thing thatcould have possibly have
happened to me.
You know, there were days wherethe pain was so heavy that I
just wanted something to come inand take it all away.
(19:55):
But even through all of that, Iknew that God was there with me
.
I knew that he wasn't going toleave me in that storm and, to
your point that, you know,through it I did try to lean on.
What is it here to show me?
You know it makes me think ofscripture.
Because of the Lord's greatlove, we are not consumed.
(20:18):
His mercies are new everymorning.
I love mornings and I know youdo too, because one of the
biggest reasons I love them isbecause they're a new beginning
right.
It's an opportunity every dayfor us to be better, to do
better than yesterday, and Ithink that verse can really be a
lifeline for everyone, but onlyif we're intentional about
(20:40):
leaning into it.
And then to your point aboutcoming through it.
I mean talk about gratitude.
You know, in spite of the storm, what once you know felt like,
you know, the worst possiblething that could happen to me
really turned out to be the bestpossible thing Because in my
case, like your similar storyand what you learned through it,
(21:02):
it didn't come to destroy.
It came to sort of burn awayeverything that wasn't meant for
me.
It came to shine a light onthings that were things I had to
deal with and just taught me atremendous amount.
You know, and I realize it'seasy to too, when you're on the
other side sitting where I amtoday, so it's not lost on me
(21:23):
that we have people who arelistening in this morning that
actually might be in the middleof a storm right now with a big
open wound, but I think both ofus have learned that healing
doesn't necessarily happenimmediately.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, and I would just say, you know, we're
probably all in a storm, likeI'm in a storm right now.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
I mean there's all varying degrees.
That's a great point.
There's always storms going on.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And you know I gave an example of something that I
had to lead through in themarketplace, but it's not just
about work.
I mean I love what I do, I lovethe people that I do it with,
and when you're talking aboutcybersecurity as an example,
cyber is a very serious thingand if you don't lead through
well, with excellence and wisdomfrom above, it could have a
(22:13):
very different outcome.
I mean, I'm directlyresponsible for a couple
thousand people, including overa million people who use our
technology, and so the impact isfar-reaching.
I mean it impacts the entirenation.
If Avid Exchange has a bad day,so I carry that weight with
huge responsibility and I careabout the people's livelihoods
(22:36):
who come to work every day, andso it's a real-life work example
that I used.
It's very personal to me aswell, and that storm was in 2023
, but there's active stormsright now, and so Some of the
storms that I'm in right now,there is a huge part of me that
wishes Lord, just take it away,just take it away, and then, if
(22:59):
he did take it away, I wouldn'tbe learning the lessons I'm
learning real time.
I mean he's teaching me wherethe boundaries of my compassion
were, where my compassion endedand judgment began and he's
tearing down those walls.
(23:20):
Because the thing is is Godwent after the one, he didn't go
after the 99.
He went after I just I love thewoman who was committing
adultery and you know, theSadducees pulled her into the
circle and they were going tostone her to death.
I think about the religiousleaders of the day were going to
(23:43):
stone this woman to death andJesus comes up on the scene and
says the one who has not sinnedthrow the first stone.
And they all just went away,they all scattered away.
And in that moment, you knowshe's looking at Jesus and Jesus
just picks her up and he hadcompassion on her, he loved her,
(24:04):
he saw through her choice toher pain.
And when his compassion met herpain, that's where real
transformation began.
And he says you know, you areforgiven, go, sin no more.
And she turned her life around.
And what God is showing me iswhere my compassion turns to
(24:25):
self-righteousness, which thenbecomes judgment.
That's good.
And I can no longer.
My compassion can't meet thepain of the person in front of
me.
And then where's thetransformation?
Yeah, it's the transformation.
Yeah, it's wow.
Okay.
So storms like that that areactive in my life, like I'm
grateful.
You know we pray, teach me, letme be more like you, right?
(24:48):
And the answer comes in wildways.
Great point, like the valleysstart coming.
A great point you.
(25:19):
But God will allow the worstsituations that we could walk
through transform us into abetter version of ourselves if
we let him.
Yeah, it's that free will thing.
We can either be succumbed tothe circumstances or we can be
victors.
And it starts through gratitude.
Like what is God showing me andteaching me in the darkest of
darkest?
It's literally.
It gives us a new lens.
It starts to turn scarcity intosufficiency.
(25:41):
It starts to turn stuntedgrowth into growth opportunities
.
It really becomes the pathwayto do abundantly more than we
can ask, think or imagine.
It begins with gratitude.
Romans 8, 28,.
God uses all things to the goodof those who love him, who are
called according to his purposes.
So he uses all things the good,the bad, the ugly for his
(26:05):
purposes.
So good, so good.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I love that you use the word allow and how he
doesn't necessarily remove usfrom the storm immediately.
You know he doesn't bring thestorm on, but he does allow
sometimes, us to stay there fora while, and it isn't a huge
part of that is because and wecan't see it when we're in it,
but he's preparing us forsomething bigger, you know, like
(26:27):
a bigger promise, a biggerresponsibility, um, that we need
to build, you know, ourresilience.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, there's always purpose in the pain, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
No doubt, and gratitude is literally a weapon.
Right, we need all the weaponswe can get.
Yes, we do Right More and moreevery day.
I mean, you know, with socialmedia and culture, and we're
just getting hammered withopportunities to feel fearful,
anxiety, you know, discontent.
(26:56):
There's just so many things outthere, unfortunately, that can
really steal our joy and ourpeace and our perspective.
And that's what the enemy wants.
He wants us to live small, livescared, live fearful, rather
than step into everything thatGod has intended for us.
So you know, gratitude is oneof the ways that we put on that
(27:19):
full armor of God.
You know when we becomedangerous against it and it
pulls us out of self-pity.
You know, too instantaneously.
Right Enter his gates withthanksgiving as.
Psalm 104 says Gratitude is howwe really access the presence
of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
God Amen, it's so true.
You know, dr Daniel Amen callsit our natural antidepressant.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So you don't need to again.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
You said it earlier.
You know doctors are very quickto put us on all sorts of
different pills, but if we trulyjust want to go natural way?
I mean, gratitude is the body'snatural antidepressant.
It's powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It really is.
It's a combat strategy, if youwill right.
Yes, dr Sean Aker, if that's howyou say his last name.
He's a renowned positivepsychologist, author and speaker
.
He founded a couple of positiveresearch institutes and he has
one of the most viewed TED Talksout there called Happy Secret
(28:23):
to Better Work, and he foundthat people who practice
gratitude are 31% moreproductive, three times more
creative and, of course, theyreport significantly higher
satisfaction in relationshipsand in work.
You know, I mean, all of thatmakes perfect sense.
Um, because I believe thathappiness and joy and and peace
(28:46):
and gratitude all of that is iscontagious.
In fact, I saw um recently,this, this fat, another person
that I follow on InstagramVanessa Van Edwards, I believe,
is her name.
She either did a study orshared a study that you can
catch fear.
I don't know all the details ofit, but literally people could
(29:10):
smell fear on somebody else.
Well, I guess animals do right,and that you can catch it.
So then the flip side must betrue, right?
So it really does matter whoyou hang with and how we're
intentional about our practice.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, I bet it goes back to that energy thing.
So we, we as human beings, putoff energy and you can literally
we talk about catching things.
There's waves, energy wavesthat literally leave the human
body, positive or negative, andwe can feel it.
And so when you walk into aroom and you feel a room off,
(29:46):
you can feel tension, with noone saying a word.
It's literally the.
This is scientifically proven.
We'll do a future show on it,but it's incredibly powerful.
You can measure energy positiveenergy and negative energy off
the human being.
So not only can you catch thefear.
You're right.
You can actually pick up ifpeople aren't being authentic,
if they're authentic in love, ifit's fake lipstick on a pig, if
(30:09):
you will right, we as humanscan pick it all up.
So yeah, that's why I didn't doa good job of that historically
, can pick it all up.
So, yeah, that's why I didn't doa good job of that historically
.
That's funny, but yeah.
So this notion of when we startto say let's lean into
gratitude, people can catch thegratitude.
(30:33):
I mean, don't you love beingaround people who just live in a
state of gratefulness?
Oh, absolutely.
I mean it just lifts you.
All boats rise with the tide,and so let's talk about how we
actually start putting this intopractice, especially for those
people who are in a hard spotright now.
What can you do?
And it starts with beingintentional to pick one thing.
You can just literally juststart small, pick one thing per
(30:56):
day to say what am I gratefulfor and what do I mean by that?
It's so critically important.
Science also backs it's aboutdepth, not breadth.
So you've might've heard makethe list of bottom out 100
things you're grateful for andjust write it out.
That's great, but if you reallywant to have heart
(31:16):
transformation, depth is better.
So you can literally just pickone thing per day that you're
grateful for and go as deep asyou can into why you're grateful
.
Okay, okay About that.
One thing, one thing, okay.
And this is incredibly powerful.
The science also tells you thatif you focus on people who are
(31:37):
you grateful for who are yougrateful for, not what are you
grateful for it's actually goingto transform you faster.
So when we think aboutgratitude towards another human
being, it radically transformsour minds and our hearts.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I love that In a positive way.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I love that, isn't that great.
Because, what is the first andgreatest commandment?
To love the Lord, your God,with all your heart, mind and
soul, and to love your neighboras yourself.
It makes sense, and so, if youwant to talk about heart
transformation, focus on aperson.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, what's why giving and volunteering is so
powerful right, yeah, well thenlet's break it down.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
So if I started today with I'm grateful for the one
person I could say, I could namemy husband, john, and so depth
would be well.
Why am I grateful for him?
Because, well beyond his goodlooks and his sexiness, he's my
Greek God.
On this side, I love it.
He has just a charismatic heartand he is a big teddy bear.
(32:32):
He's very strong, he's a strongman.
He's not a wimpy man, he's astrong man's man, right, but he
loves fiercely and he's superintentional.
I mean, he's thinking aboutokay, perfect example.
Last week I had the opportunityfor work to travel to San
Francisco and then I foundmyself in Chicago and then I had
(32:54):
to get back to Charlotte and itwas this whirlwind of travel
and when I was in Chicago,literally they canceled my
flight.
Well, my husband, he tracks mewhere I'm at for safety, not
because he's a control freak,he's not a stalker, but he sees
that my flight's canceled andhe's Johnny on the spot, no pun
intended, even though his name'sJohn, johnny on the spot.
(33:14):
He's on with American Airlinesmaking sure that I'm getting
rebooked on the next flight andthat my hotel is booked, so I
have a place to lay my head, Imean all the things, because he
wants to make sure I'm okay andhe wants to take stress off me
before I even realized stresswas being put on me.
But that is something to begrateful for.
So when I think about that, I'mgoing deep into why am I
(33:40):
grateful for him?
Not just I'm grateful for myhusband, john.
Today it's literally getspecific, and that's you know
that specificity will reinforcethe position of your heart and
bring you into a being ofgratitude.
So good, it's, so powerful.
Yeah, do you want to shareanything that you like to think
(34:03):
about when it comes to puttinggratitude into practice?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I think similar to our last episode when we were
talking about.
You know you are what you think, inevitably.
You know complaints are goingto come up, right, negative
thoughts are going to come up,and I would just encourage
people to try to flip the scripton that a little bit, you know.
Switch the complaint tosomething that you're grateful
(34:28):
for each time it comes in.
Because, again back to what wetalked about with neuroscience
and Tony Robbins out withneuroscience and Tony Robbins,
you can't feel gratitude andfear or anxiety or stress, all
at the same time.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
You know, it's true, when you talk about, I think
about sandpaper.
Who are the people in your lifethat are sandpaper, that just
grate up against you, that areopening your heart wounds, that
just cause you to be stressed oragitated?
Who are those people?
And if you really want to getcrazy and transform fast, be
(35:03):
grateful for those people.
God says to love our enemiesHard sometimes, yeah, and if you
pick one person and you couldpick the person who's literally
just tearing up your heart andyou could be grateful for that
person because God is teachingyou something.
So am I grateful for the stormthat I'm in right now, for some
(35:28):
of the actions that a person hastaken that has caused
downstream impact on me?
Absolutely not.
Sure, not grateful for thosedecisions.
But I am grateful that throughthose actions, is teaching me to
love better.
Absolutely not, sure, notgrateful for those decisions,
but I am grateful that throughthose actions, is teaching me to
love better and bigger.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, right, I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
And so how do I rise above it?
And what God has taught me isbe grateful for, find the good
in the person, despite the painthat I see, and call that into
action, declare it.
You know, god says we walk byfaith, not by sight.
So believe that, just as Godhas a plan and a purpose for
(36:03):
your life, he wants to prosperyou, to give you hope in a
future.
Believe it for the person who'syour enemy in front of you, and
you could be the very vesselthat God needs to use to pray
that person into their calling,into their rightful position as
an heir to the throne room ofChrist, that is powerful, right
Amen.
(36:23):
And so that's what it's calledto be a Christ follower.
It's not to love in the easy,it's to love through to the pain
.
We are called to call peoplehigher.
You know what I mean.
Now, we can't make people sayyes, but we can certainly
believe for them standing in thegap when no one else is
standing in the gap for thatperson.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Yeah, I was going to say it just came to mind.
Something else that reallyhelps me when I keep this in my
conscious is that I think tomyself and scripture, frankly,
is very clear about this I thinkto myself, and scripture,
frankly, is very clear aboutthis If we can't be grateful for
what we have already right,even if it's very little, how on
(37:09):
earth could we expect God tobless us with more?
And that's the other big partabout gratitude that I don't
even think that we talked aboutis it literally opens the door
to abundance as well.
Like not only does it flip ourperspective, but once you start
to focus on just one small thingto be grateful for, you start
(37:29):
to feel different.
But inevitably the floodgatesyou know more often than not
start to open up where blessingsand abundance start flowing in,
so that you even have morethings to be grateful for.
I mean, it is a phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Well, it's the whole thing of you reap what you sow.
People typically, you know,will teach on that verse when it
comes to tithing or, you know,giving offerings, where if you
sow money in, you're going toget more money out, right which
is a true biblical concept, bythe way.
But the reality is you reapwhat you sow.
If you are planting good seeds,if you're planting seeds of
gratitude, you're going to getgratitude right back on you and
(38:06):
you're going to get theabundance that you're talking
about.
That increases your capacity tobe more and more grateful.
So again, yeah, you are whatyou think and if you begin with
gratitude, you will reap theharvest of gratefulness.
It's a beautiful thing.
I love it.
So I want to just run through acouple things.
Yeah, please, just a coupledisciplines that people can
(38:29):
start to exercise this muscle ofgratitude we already talked
about.
Pick your one thing.
Go deep.
You don't have to go wide,meaning don't come up with a
list of a thousand.
Be authentic.
Pick the one thing, even ifit's your biggest struggle, and
just lean in with God in prayerand say what are you calling me
to be grateful for in thismoment, with this problem
(38:51):
statement?
Or just this blessing?
What do you want to callforward in the blessing?
Write it out.
We said in the last episode ifyou write it down, your
exponentially higher rate ofreturn you're going to get it
into your mind.
Your brain is going to go intoyour heart and really transform,
cover everything in prayer.
(39:11):
So, as you're journaling it out, just pray, pray, pray, pray,
prayer, pray.
God moves.
He says you do not have becauseyou do not ask right, and he
says come to me and everythingCome to me and you're going to
get answers from me.
So we just cover it and code itin prayer.
And I was just saying to myhusband last night we were
walking around the neighborhood,stopped by the mailbox, pulled.
(39:32):
We were walking around theneighborhood, stopped by the
mailbox, pulled all the mail outof the mailbox and I'm flipping
through.
I'm like, ooh, do we have anygood mail?
It's all junk, junk mail.
I'm like you know what?
I miss letters.
You know when you used to go tothe mailbox?
and you would have a letter froma friend like a pen pal.
Absolutely.
I'm like I missed that and solet's bring that back.
It's a lost art.
Yeah Right, let's write lettersof gratitude to people.
(39:55):
It's one thing to think it, wecan text it, it's great, it's
quick.
But what if you hand write anote and drop it in the mailbox?
I have a box where I savespecial things like that I bet
everybody does yes.
So see, yes, me too.
(40:16):
In a long time, you betterwrite me a letter.
I'm going to get on it, and thelast two things I'll share
around gratitude exercises is acollage, and so the people that
you're grateful for, again,people have a higher.
When we pour into the art ofgratitude on people, it's going
to transform us faster than ifwe say I'm thankful for my house
, or I'm thankful for my car,I'm thankful for the food I got
(40:37):
to eat today All those thingsare true, but people is where
the richness comes in, and so ifwe make a collage of people's
faces and the differentcharacteristics about that
person that we appreciate.
So if I were having you on mycollage, it would be your
beautiful face with all sorts offitness stuff, because you're a
beast when it comes to the gymand you love to read and just
(41:01):
all the things that I appreciateabout you.
Visually, I would have thingslike a vision board, but it's a
grateful board.
These are the people that I'mgrateful for, and then these are
the things that I love andadmire about them and I'm
grateful for inspiring me to youknow.
You inspire me to be physicallyfit.
Thank you, alisa.
Very cool Right.
And then, or a grateful jar,and so you've heard it.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I have heard that I love that idea too.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Put it in a jar when you're having a bad moment, go
pick one of those things backout, read it.
It fuels your tank right backup, so good.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
So good.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
So good.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Let me share, before we close out, a short gratitude
story, speaking of somebody else, because I haven't even shared
this with you and this justhappened, literally, at least
rounded out yesterday, soprobably about six or eight
weeks ago, an early morning Iran out of eggs and I have to
have my eggs every morning Goingback to your fitness.
I'm not even sure shouldn't saythis out loud.
I ran out of eggs and I have tohave my eggs every morning
Going back to your fitness.
I'm not even sure I shouldn'tsay this out loud.
(41:57):
I'm not even sure I brush myteeth.
But I ran out of the house,practically in my pajamas, to
Harris Teeter early in themorning and I happened to be
wearing.
This is also just an incrediblestory about living your truth
with love of Jesus out loud.
So I was wearing my umtransform, not conformed
sweatshirt.
Oh yeah, it's got the wholeRomans verse on the back.
(42:19):
And and I hear this oldergentleman say, oh, you know,
look at that verse.
And I turn around um, he's gotlong white hair, thick white
mustache and he's working theproduce section.
He's a Harris Teeter employeethere and we start to chat and
he says I can't believe you'rewearing this shirt.
I used to be in a men's Biblestudy many years ago and he
(42:43):
always won trivia and he saidthat verse was the one verse
that somehow he stumbled on andhe'll never forget it now to
this day, because it was the onetime that he lost trivia.
So that's how the conversationstarted.
Well, I won't go into all thedetails, but within two minutes
we're in the middle of theproduce section and Harris
(43:03):
Teeter crying, praying over him.
He's getting ready to go intoliterally getting ready to go
into another painful surgery.
Getting ready to go intoanother painful surgery he's
dealt with.
I want to say that it's bladdercancer, but I'm not certain.
But he had tears streaming downhis eyes explaining these
(43:24):
horrendous, painful surgeries.
He should have died five yearsago.
God is so good, god is sofaithful.
He didn't need to save me.
I mean the man is like a walkingtestimony for the goodness of
the Lord in the middle of thestorm and tremendous pain, right
.
So he went and he had anothersurgery.
(43:47):
Then, like two weeks after that, I saw him again.
We got to catch up.
He was doing well, he needed tohave another procedure, had to
get delayed because he got sick,yada yada.
He asked me for my phone number.
He said when I ring the belland I know God will make sure
I'm going to be able to ring thecancer free bell I would like
(44:08):
you to be there.
And so I gave him my phonenumber and I knew he was going
in for surgery literally thenext day when I saw him that day
.
And so yesterday he called meand we had a wonderful
conversation and you could hearthe tears over the phone.
He said I am so over the moon.
(44:28):
I have not been so happy in thelongest time His surgeries went
beautifully, been so happy inthe longest time His surgeries
went beautifully.
He said on August 29th he'sgoing to get to ring the bell
and that I have an opportunityto be there.
And he was like and thank youfor being my friend.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
It's the sweetest thing, but again, the thing that
blows me away about this man is, I mean, the light of the Lord,
amen, despite the storm,despite the storm, anyway, and
you're spreading hope and lightresponsibly.
That's right, he sure is.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I love it.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Thanks for sharing that.
That's a good blessing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
And I know it's blessing people who are
listening, so yeah, let's wrapit up Gr.
And I know it's blessing peoplewho are listening, so yeah,
let's wrap it up.
Gratitude does not deny thehard things, but it gives us a
new lens to view the hard thingsthrough.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
And it can really just help blossom us into who
God created us to be.
Yeah, just the root ofgratitude.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Yeah, so I encourage everyone be intentional for the
next 30 days at least, and watchwhat happens in and through you
.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yeah, watch, god blow your mind, yeah, so with that,
let's close in prayer.
Okay, okay.
Heavenly Father, we just loveyou and we are so grateful for
your goodness and your mercythat gets renewed every single
morning when we open our eyes.
Lord, I thank you that you aregiving us eyes to see in the
good and in the bad, thatthere's so much that we can be
(45:57):
grateful for.
Lord.
Thank you for just continuingto be so faithful, to direct
each and every step intransforming us into who you
need and want us to be, for yourglory.
We love you, god.
In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Amen.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!