Handcraft Your Life with Appreciation

We don't usually think of appreciation as a powerful tool, yet it is key in our desire to handcraft a life of choice. This is a key learning that I received from a master teacher on my recent vacation in Peru.

It was easy to feel and express appreciation while I was away on a fabulous vacation. I appreciated that I Was on vacation, that I was with wonderful like-minded people, that an expert guided us to make the journey effortless and fun, that we shared special experiences, that the landscape was dramatically beautiful, and that the region radiated a rich and proud history. Now back at home, the challenge is to be able to radiate appreciation within the context of my version of ordinary, non-vacation life.

What's so powerful about appreciation? When you are in the vibration of appreciation, you are in the vibration of allowing. Whatever it is you are appreciating, you are allowing, with a present-moment experience. You can't appreciate something and repel it at the same time. In other words, it speeds the process of creating what you desire in your life, like providing a power booster and greasing the skids for the Law of Attraction to do its job.

There are endless reasons why you would want to employ the power of appreciation. If you want a bigger home, appreciate your current home and the beautiful homes of others. If you want a better job, appreciate what you are doing now, and appreciate the work of others. If you want better office systems, appreciate its value. If want a better body, appreciate the idea of a healthy body, whether it is yours or someone else's. It's the appreciation that counts. Look around you and consciously appreciate what's in your life, particularly those things that you are interested in evolving, and that which you wish to attract into your life.

How do you begin a practice of appreciation? Here are a couple of tips to get you started.

1. Practice a new language. Whenever you think you want something, and you would say "I want that, or I have to have that," substitute "appreciate" for "want" and say, "I appreciate that." Even if you are not accustomed to the language change, you can feel the energy shift in yourself when you do it.

2. Focus a flood of appreciation on any subject of your desire. Keep your attention on what you want and turn away from that which you don't want.

3. Feel appreciation. Do things, or be in situations, that allow you to physically feel really good; like being with your love, listening to your favorite music, or playing your favorite game. Notice when you are feeling very good and appreciative and hold on to the feeling as long as possible, or at least 17 seconds.

4. Keep practicing. The more you practice, the faster your human system and the universe will respond.

I assert that the more you practice appreciation, the more you will experience better relationships, better opportunities, and better results. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain when you cultivate a practice of appreciation.