“I’m grateful I see the big picture today… I’m giving myself a chance to really succeed… I don’t focus on what is lacking. There is no growth in that… I love my life!” – Aaron
Above is an excerpt from Aaron’s gratitude list today. His words painted a story in my mind about the danger of focusing on lack. Here it is: 
There once was a farmer. He was happy with a beautiful family. His crops were growing well, his harvests were very abundant. Yet there was this one area where nothing would grow. He thought perhaps that some salt or pesticides had made it sterile. So he dug up the ground and brought over rich organic soil. No luck. Over the following days he tried everything to fix that patch . The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years. The friends that used to come over to celebrate his abundant crops stopped dropping by, as his focus was all about that one small barren area of land. He tunnel vision of the problem prevented him from attending to the rest of his farm and finances. His other crops died. His wife couldn’t take it anymore. She left and took the kids. Eventually the bank came and took the farm. He had lost everything yet he still couldn’t stop thinking about that tiny piece of ungrowable land. He died broke, miserable and consumed with his lack. 
The moral of the story is that not only is there no growth in focusing on what is lacking in our life, but by focusing on what’s wrong we risk losing everything else that’s right and good in our life. I’m a very lucky person. The program has taught me to do everything necessary to stay in the Attitude of Gratitude, because when I do, ILML! 

– JamieQ