Unconquerable Gladness

I spent a day witnessing miracles in my clients and experiencing a sense of awe for the challenges they're managing so very beautifully. As I drove home last night, I thought of the motto that decorated President FDR's office, "Let Unconquerable Gladness Dwell." This was his North Star, that which encapsulated his beliefs and values and got him through leading our country out of the Great Depression and international conflict.

I can think of no better technique for cultivating, "Let Unconquerable Gladness Dwell," than the practice of gratitude. Practicing gratitude is big news and has the ability to direct our attention to the good, which is always a reality, always, even in the midst of challenges. This kind of resiliency is what my clients demonstrated to me yesterday. It takes great faith to rest in "Unconquerable Gladness" when hardship knocks at our doors and is inescapable. I go back to one of my biggest challenges to the practice of gratitude--the recent loss of my father. On the day of his remembrance and burial, I committed to doing my ultimate experiment in gratitude and made a pact with myself: today, I will grieve and not stop the flow of sadness, but after today is through, I will do my best to focus only on the goodness of my Pop's life and let these memories sustain me. The reward of this practice has been a lightness I did not think possible after the passing of one so dear. Another unexpected bonus has been incredible visits from my father in my dreams, and these, of course, have strengthened my "unconquerable" gratitude for his precious life.

Let Unconquerable Gladness Dwell. Let in the these-are-the-good-things-and-I'm-holding-to-it gratitude. Then, if you're brave, come into my office and hook up to the HeartMath technologies and see gratitude in real time and the positive effects such reality has on your body, mind and spirit. Take untangible emotions like gladness and gratitude, and see how your physiology responds. The best medicine is generated within us--Let Unconquerable Gladness Dwell. Let it in, let it in, let it in....