By Coach Cary Bayer 

Frederick Eikerenkoetter II said it beautifully when he talked about the prospering power of “an attitude of gratitude.” I know…you’re scratching your head since you never heard of Frederick Eikerenkoetter II. That’s because you probably remember him as the legendary Reverend Ike. He founded churches in Beaufort, South Carolina, Boston, Massachusetts, and New York city. He also inspired many thousands of parishioners in person, hundreds of thousands of radio listeners who heard his sermons over the air, and millions of readers of his dozens of books and listeners to his dozens of tapes. The spiritual activist is famous for tweaking the famous injunction by Jesus to say, “It is the lack of money that is the root of all evil.”

But it’s the attitude of gratitude that we want to discuss here. Essentially, the great motivator understood that what you pay attention to gets stronger. This is the dictum of the best-seller, The Secret: energy flows where attention goes. My guru, the great sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, used to say, “What you put your attention on grows stronger in your life.”

Putting your attention on gratitude by writing in a nightly Gratitude Journal that records what you are grateful for that particular day strengthens your sense of gratitude, which strengthens your prosperity. When you write in your nightly Gratitude Journal, don’t forget to write, from time to time, that you’re grateful for being able to write in the journal in the first place. Sad to say, there are many deceased people who you’ve known and loved over the course of your lifetime who are unable to write in any kind of journal because where they are now, there are no pens, papers, or journals.

Life responds to attention and acknowledgment, so too does Prosperity. Pet a dog and his tail wags, stroke a cat and she purrs, play Mozart to a plant and it thrives. Affirmations and visualizations are mental techniques that help awaken prosperity, while gratitude is an emotional technique that helps accomplish the same. A grateful heart appreciates what it has, and that attracts more things, opportunities, and money because everything likes to be appreciated.

Being grateful for what you have invites more of it in your life. As one of my early teachers, Bob Mandel of the Loving Relationships Training, used to say ever so aptly, “The more grateful I am for what I have, the more I have to be grateful for.”

Let me share some of my favorite quotes about gratitude. Henry Ward Beecher, a 19th century American clergyman, abolitionist and brother of Uncle Tom’s Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, said it beautifully: “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” 20th century German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

The ancient great Roman orator Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Grammy and Golden Globe winner and Doris Day said it tersely: “Gratitude is riches, complain is poverty.” Author Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.” My second favorite quote about gratitude comes from G.K. Chesterton, who wrote, “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

Probably my favorite quote about the link between gratitude and prosperity comes from the best-selling author Eckhart Tolle, who wrote,

“Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of  life now is the true prosperity.”