The Gratitude Rock
Gratitude is the heart’s memory.
~French Proverb
These are a few select stories that readers have sent in. To submit your own story, use our form or simply or us directly.
Hi, I know that Butterfly, and I have seen her spread her wings, maybe only a little bit, in the short time I have known her.
Impressive, friendly and warm.
Nicely written you two.
Lots of Love,
Jay
After our family was introduced to the video "The Secret", we noticed many fun changes in our lives as a family, as well as individually. (We no longer struggle to find a great parking space, for instance, and my five-year old daughter occasionally reminds me to "Ask Believe Receive" when we are searching for a missing shoe or set of keys!)
My eight year old son, Gunnar, has never been very fond of math. Shortly after watching "The Secret", he found himself a "gratitude rock" out in the yard. It is small, smooth and gray, an ordinary rock upon inspection. But he carried it to school each day, as it meant something to him. One day, he got off the school bus just beaming at me and clutching his rock in the air. "It worked, Mama!" he exclaimed. I asked him what he was talking about, and he told me about his afternoon in class.
"We were doing math drills- a game called "Around the World" and I almost always lose right away. But I held my rock in my hand and I got all the answers right. At the end it was just Spencer and me- and you know, Mama, he's really good at math. Well, I held my rock and kept thinking to myself, "I know I can do it, I know I can do it" and then I got the last answer right and I won, Mama, I won!!!"
As I said, he was not fond of math, and this was the first time I had ever seen him so excited about it! There have been so many blessings in our lives because of that wonderful, uplifting video, but I count that day as one of the greatest. It is summer now, and the rock sits next to my son's bedside, but I have a feeling it will accompany him to third grade!
Cat Redinbo
The Rock and Brower Quadrants Together
I am a mortgage planner near the Gulf Coast of Florida. About six months ago a colleague approached me about new business strategies, and I wanted to know more. Consequently, I attended Doug Andrew’s Missed Fortune TEAM training in Salt Lake City, Utah. What I thought would be another professional course ended up changing my family’s life.
Along with teaching his unique financial planning strategies as part of that training, Doug shared the concepts of the Brower Quadrants and gave us all Gratitude Rocks before we left. Here’s what has happened since….
The Financial Quadrant: My income sharply increased (by 2.5 times in 90 days while production increased by only 25 percent).
The Core Quadrant: My family held our first-ever vacation with a purpose over a holiday weekend in Boca Grande, Florida. We did some planning, captured recent experiences, and felt much closer, much clearer about our future.
The Experience Quadrant: We put into motion some of the equity optimization strategies outlined by Doug Andrew, and the timing couldn’t have been better. We were able to leverage nearly $150,000 of equity in our home just before the market cooled. If we hadn’t, we would have missed out on nearly $100,000 in equity management!
The Contribution Quadrant: My family had recently decided to buy two empty waterfront lots in an underprivileged community in the Port of Tampa. We found out that the local school, just yards from my lots, was considered a low-income school. My family decided to sponsor a Back-to-School Carefest at the local park. We provided all of the funds for the event and partnered with the elementary school, the city, my family’s church and other local organizations for human resources and coordination.
The event was a huge success with the distribution of 250 backpacks filled with school supplies; over 4,000 pounds of food, medicine and essential items; 125 pizzas; and all the popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy a kid could eat. We also provided four large inflatable “fun pits” for the children. We served over 750 of the community residents. An amazing coincidence was that the day before the event, I received the largest two-week commission check of my entire life. Overall, my wife and I could not put a price tag on these experiences. We did this as a family and our children, ages 11 through 4, were there to help serve others. It has now been voted a family tradition, and we intend to do it every year for as long as possible.
I attribute all of the above blessings to my faith and the little rock that I picked up as I exited Doug Andrew’s offices in Utah. I cannot relay enough importance on what the Brower Quadrants have done for my relationship with my wife, children, associates, and clients.
—Kevin H.
A Positive Sign for a Teacher
Recently I was out of my classroom for three days in teachers’ training. While in training, the consultant mentioned The Secret. I didn’t know much about it, but I was intrigued. I went out to the bookstore that day and ordered the DVD.
When I returned to my classroom after the weekend, I opened the door to the most unbelievable mess. The floor crew of our county had stripped and waxed the floors. There were things strewn everywhere. My desk was a disaster, piled with things from all over the room. When I finally worked my way down to the top of my desk, I noticed an item that I had never seen before in my room. It was a relatively small piece of gravel. I just looked at it and worked around it, but for some reason did not throw it away.
My copy of The Secret arrived a day later at my house. Eager to watch it for the first time, I brought it to school and popped it in for my gifted eighth-grade students to view. Needless to say, I had NEVER heard of the Gratitude Rock until Lee Brower’s segment appeared. Since I don't believe in accidents, all I can say is the rock on my desk is now going to serve as my Gratitude Rock.
I see it as a positive sign. I have been looking for some light in my life. This is a refreshing event to have happened to me!
—Harriet A.
Gratitude Rock Helps Shift Focus
I recently purchased The Secret DVD. I was moved by Lee Brower’s story—about going through a particularly rough time in his life and carrying a little rock with him to remind him of all the things he was grateful for every day. I was also fascinated with Lee’s story of sharing his Gratitude Rock with a man he met from South Africa whose son was gravely ill with hepatitis. Lee sent the gentleman more rocks so the man could sell them for charity in his hometown in Africa.
The idea of a Gratitude Rock consumed me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had been searching for a way to help spread the message of the law of attraction and world peace.
I live west of Toronto, Canada. It was March and had been snowing for two and half days, so everything was shut down. Where could I find rocks at this time of year, given our current weather conditions? When the storm ended, we began to dig out and I ran some errands.
When I came home, I pulled into my usual parking spot and as I got out of the car, there were 7 smooth pebbles lying at my feet! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I put down my groceries, picked up the pebbles and put them in my coat pocket. The first thing I did when I got inside was wash them off in warm soapy water and let them dry on a tea towel. I was blown away! The following day I found another rock embedded in ice. This truly was the law of attraction at work, an absolute miracle!
As I gave away the rocks to others, the meaning became clear. You will find miracles happen once you begin to focus on gratitude. Even if you are going through a tough time, being grateful every day will shift your awareness to positive things in your life and bring you in harmony with your desires. And focusing on peace and prosperity for yourself and others will bring about miracles in your own life.
—Marg H.
Rock Brings Light in Dark Times
Earlier this year, we suffered a tragic death in our family. My 16-year-old niece was killed in a rollover accident. It was a huge shock.
Becca had been the light of our family and certainly the light of my sister and her family. When there is such intense grief with the loss of someone so young, it is hard to bear; it does not seem reasonable to lose young family members. After being at my sister's home for a few days, I came home to take care of some business and personal matters. I planned to return the following week for the funeral.
As we drove home, I thought about the Gratitude Rock in my pocket, reflecting on the gratitude I felt for knowing this wonderful young lady. It helped ease the burden of the grief. I thought to myself that this might be a good opportunity to share the concept of the Gratitude Rock—that maybe it would ease some of my family’s pain. After we were home, I gathered the pile of rocks that I had on my dresser—probably 30 or 35 rocks in all.
I often give Gratitude Rocks to my friends and clients and share Lee Brower’s Gratitude Rock story. Lee’s original Gratitude Rock had an image of a butterfly, and coincidentally, my niece and her mother loved butterflies; they often painted them on their toe nails together. I came up with an idea.
I went to the local nail salon. Even though the salon usually focuses only on nails, they have amazing artistic ability. I asked them to paint butterflies on all of the rocks so I could give them to the family as a reminder of how grateful we are to have known Rebecca.
They painted beautiful, sparkling butterflies on every one of the tiny little rocks. The salon wouldn't allow me to pay them. The owner said it would be their contribution to our dedication to Rebecca, and to our healing,
I delivered the tray of beautifully painted butterfly rocks to my sister's home, and shared with her the story of the Gratitude Rock. I told her how the rock can be a reminder to be grateful and appreciate the time we shared with Rebecca.
I went to visit my sister a few weeks ago and she thanked me again for the Gratitude Rocks. We all continue to deal with Rebecca’s loss, but somehow focusing on gratitude helps bring light in very dark times.
—MaryAnne B.
