The Princess Guide to Gratitude

By Senee Seale

Are you looking for a way to improve your personal development and bring in more positive energy and positive people and events into your life? This motivational self-help book will give you plenty of ideas and guidance on your self-improvement journey using gratitude at the catalyst.

Americans often think about gratitude and being thankful during the month of November. However, gratitude before you see your dreams manifest is the secret to success. Author Senée Seale takes you on her journey of finding and expressing gratitude in every area of her life. She shares scientific research, personal stories, and expert commentary to help you attract more of what you want into your life.

In this book you will discover:

• What gratitude is
• How to have gratitude when communicating with your Higher Power
• How to be grateful for the small things
• How to pause for gratitude at milestones
• How to be grateful for the bad things that happen to you
• How to give thanks for changing seasons
• How to be grateful for transformation

... And much more.

Included in this book is a 45-day guided gratitude journal to help jumpstart your daily gratitude journaling practice. It includes prompts to help you get a clear understanding of the practice of gratitude and how to apply it to your daily life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Becoming Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393780700

Senee Seale

Senée Seale is the face and voice of The Princess Guide. She spent her first career as a print journalist and then earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The University of Texas at Dallas where she worked as a research assistant in the Couples’ Daily Lives Laboratory studying relationships. She has also studied Substance Abuse Counseling, and has graduate level training in Marriage & Family Therapy and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Senée is a Qualified Mental Health Professional, behavioral clinician, life guide, Certified Christian Counselor, singer, writer and public speaker. She is passionate about helping people become all they were created to be through creating positive changes in their lives and relationships.

Book preview

The Princess Guide to Gratitude

Senée Seale

The Princess Guide to Gratitude

Copyright © 2019 by Senée Seale.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

For information contact :

Becoming Publishing

BecomingPublishing.com

ThePrincessGuide.com

[e-mail]

Book and cover design by Seneé Seale.

First Edition: November 2019

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

CONTENTS

Introduction         5

1. What is gratitude?         9

2. Gratitude in prayer/communication with your Higher Power    19

3. Eyes to see: Being grateful for the small things     27

4. Pausing for gratitude at milestones         31

5. Be grateful for the bad things that happen to you       33

6. Give thanks for changing seasons         45

7. The victory begins in your head      49

8. Gratitude for transformation      57

The Guided Gratitude Journal          70

About the author        160

Acknowledgments        162

Introduction

A

s I was writing The Princess Guide to Healing a Broken Heart in 2016–2017, I kept seeing in my mind a butterfly. I’ve always liked butterflies, but I’ve never been really crazy about them or seen visions of them in my head over and over again. During the writing process of that book, however, I kept seeing a butterfly. As this was happening, I realized that I had been a caterpillar crawling on my stomach on the ground with very limited vision of what was happening around me and to me. Then, I understood that the hurt and pain I was experiencing at that time was actually me transforming inside the cocoon, and that I was going to fly above everything and see every situation for what it really was. I can honestly say three years later that this very thing has happened.

It occurred to me while writing that book that I had to begin with gratitude because, in my opinion, it is the very bedrock foundation for change and transformation. It reminds me of the lyrics to Rebecca St. James’ song Reborn, If you see a change in me don’t wonder. There’s someone in my life. A peace I can’t describe. For I’ve been reborn. If you see a change in me don’t wonder. I’ve found a whole new life. A hope that I can’t hide. For I’ve been reborn.

While I do have a Christian background, this book is not religious. It will give you practical steps you can take to cultivate gratitude in your life. You will read scientific research, expert commentary, my personal stories, and some Biblical references.

The second part of this book is a 45-day guided gratitude journal where you can put into practice what you are learning in these pages. I created an affirmation for each day that you need to read aloud at least once, but the more the better. You can also write them on sticky notes and place them in areas where you spend a lot of time so that you can focus on them and allow your brain to process and ponder them. This will allow your brain to develop ways to create positive change in your life. Each day will have a short writing exercise to help you cultivate your gratitude. You can begin Day 1 as you begin reading the book, or you can read the book in its entirety, and then work through the journal. The choice is yours.

I would love to hear about your progress while using the gratitude journal and reading this book. You can connect with me on Facebook @ThePrincessGuide, through Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube @SeneeSeale or ThePrincessGuide.com. I’m really excited to celebrate with you all the positive changes you’re about to experience!

Are you royal?

I am a princess. I wasn’t raised in a palace. I didn’t have servants. I didn’t grow up with massive amounts of money at my disposal, and I’m not in line to rule a kingdom. I’ve lived in gated communities, high-rise buildings, questionable apartments, and mobile homes. I’ve had designer clothes and bags and not enough money to pay the rent or buy food. Despite my hardships, I’m still a princess. I am a princess of the Kingdom of Heaven which is inside us all.

Being royal—or having a royal attitude/mindset—is mostly a state of mind. It isn’t contingent upon what things you have or the position you hold. It’s a state of being gracious to yourself and others, living in integrity, and holding yourself to a higher standard. When you rule and reign over yourself, you have no need to rule and reign over others because keeping yourself straight is a full-time job. As you rule and reign over yourself with love and kindness, then it will overflow to everyone around you.

Having a royal mindset, to me, means that you are operating everything you do with love and integrity. This goes hand-in-hand with gratitude. Gratitude changes things. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life, wrote Melody Beattie in The Language of Letting Go. It turns what we have into enough, and more ... Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude’s power.

In this book, I’m going to talks about the Creator/Source/Universe. I call this being God and Higher Power. As they say in the 12-step programs, it’s God as you understand it. You can replace these words with whatever you know it to be. But, showing gratitude to this being (and to everyone and everything around us, including ourselves) is what changes things—it changes us. So, let’s take a deeper look at gratitude. 

1

What is gratitude?

H

aving gratitude or being thankful is something most Americans think about during the month of November as Thanksgiving Day approaches. I see people doing gratitude posts on social media, and that’s important, but it should be a 365-day-a-year practice for optimal results. Albert Schweitzer is credited with saying, The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who learned this knows what it means to live. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life; giving thanks for everything.

Merriam-Webster defines gratitude as the state of being grateful; thankfulness (conscious of benefit received; expressive of thanks; well pleased). So often today, I see people who feel entitled to blessings, jobs, things, status, etc., and they are not thankful for even the little things they have. I was raised to take care of what I had (even if it wasn’t much), and as a result of that gratitude process, I have been blessed with more and better things, people, and situations through those acts of gratitude and taking care of what was placed in my hands.

Scientific research on gratitude

Many researchers state that the study of gratitude is in its infancy. Harvard Health Publishing at Harvard Medical School reported in 2011 that one study they published found managers who say thank you have more productive employees. "Researchers at the Wharton School at the University of