Browse Gratitude

Happiness is not difficult. It's only when we let other things get in the way that it seems difficult to obtain. To me, the key to happiness is wanting what you have, rather than having what you want. What this means is that I am satisfied with what I have, what I do, who I associate with. I don't spend my time seeking the next best thing. I spend my time appreciating what I have. It's not hard to get there. You will need two things: a pencil and paper. At the top of the pape

Memorial Day signifies the beginning of summer. School is almost out, and the weather has turned warm. People take the long weekend to travel, have bbq parties, swim, bike, and spend it with friends and family. But there's a deeper meaning to Memorial Day that we often times forget. Yes, it is a legal holiday but the original intent was to set aside a day in which we commemorate the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in war. In this day and age, you wou

Staying grateful is a very dynamic scenario for attracting more of what you yearn for into your life. If you are grateful for what you already have then the universe will manifest many more good things in your life. The Law of Gratitude is a powerful natural law like the Law of Attraction and the Law of Gravity. Why Being Grateful for What You Already Have Will Bring You MorernYou need to be thankful everything you already have, what you already are, and everything you alread

"When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes, I already have everything that I really need.'" - The Dalai Lamarn rnI find it interesting that the Dalai Lama uses the phrase "practicing contentment" in this quote. To "practice contentment" is different than simply "being content." It seems to me that to practice contentment is to engage in an ongoing and consc

1. Now is the time to be honest with yourself and others. If you're trying to revitalize yourself, you have to be honest about what is and is NOT working in your life. Self-deception is like driving around in circles: you're moving, but you're not getting anywhere. 2. The only person you can change is yourself. It's impossible to change others, so don't waste time trying. Focus on the changes YOU want to make. Focus on YOUR goals. Others will either follow your lead... or they won't.

Everyone does the best they can at life. At a young age, I realized that many people walked around with a sense of worthlessness, and while you can't change someone's belief in their self-worth, you can acknowledge what they do. A compliment is a gift that you can give to someone else, and genuinely complimenting others is important. It's like that proverbial olive branch where a compliment shows the other person that there is something about them that you value. It builds a

We could hear the pounding in our hearts. We could feel the vibration in our beings. Once again two countries had come together in the name of peace. Only this time around, the bridge of heart to heart connections (as I call it), between the Americans and the people of Panama was about giving thanks for friendship, while having fun. Our bridge of heart to heart connections was similar in spirit, to the one that the Americans had created many years before, with hard work and s

I've been wondering about humility. This is not a character trait I've had from birth, but something I find myself learning more of the older I get. My sweetheart is exceptionally humble, and I can't tell if it's how he was raised or if it is a natural trait. There is a difference between humbleness and low self-esteem. When someone is humble, they are capable of great things but let other people shine in them instead. Low self-esteem on the other hand is not believing you ar

Over the last few years many of us have heard of the elusive universal law. We’ve seen and heard many professionals in the field talk about ways of attracting the things we really want into our lives. People are now more aware of the universal law than at any moment in history. This information is being spread by the mass media and by the revolution of the internet. However these laws are in fact thousands of years old & were used in the past by many famous people including C

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction work to create abundance in your life, even when you do not know how this principle works. Knowing how this principle works is to be using the Law of Attraction to actively create a life that is truly prosperous and in harmony with the universe.nnThe Law of Attraction is not just a metaphysical idea; it is also a theory that has been proven to work. Science has discovered through quantum physics that there is a very real law of nature, brin

Gratitude, appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.n In a religious context, gratitude can also refer to a feeling of indebtedness towards a deity. Most religions prescribe rituals of thanksgiving towards their higher powers; the expression of gratitude to God is a central theme of Christianity and Islam. n Psychological research has demonstrated that individuals are more likely to ex

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." n Dr Wayne W Dyer nnnRecently, I have been looking at the magnificence of the human spirit that lives within each one of us. I do not think we fully appreciate this precious resource that we each carry. If we did, we would all be a lot happier. No one can take it away from you. However, you can either enhance or diminish your awareness of it.nnI love the American celebration of Thanksgiving. I realiz

What do we do when the gap between where we are and what we want isn’t closing fast enough? If you find yourself in this situation currently you may feel anxious, impatient, stuck or hopeless—or a combination of all of them. In the worst case scenario the gap may appear so wide that it feels impossible to bridge. This is where your doubts become so overwhelming that giving up seems like the easiest thing to do.nnAn example of this might be your dream to be a world

In memory of her recently departed brother–in- law, one of my Facebook friends decided she was establishing a week of random acts of kindness. I loved this idea. What a great way to honor someone that has passed away and will be greatly missed. Her first act happened, by chance, in the grocery store. My friend asked one of the employees, “Who could use a smile?” She was introduced to a young man who worked in the produce section. She gave this virtual stranger a hug and trea

A sound wave, an image, a dazzling light, Opening the mind to new insight, Musing thoughts remind me of whe Counting our blessings was so "in." Keep your eye on higher things Watching love's beauty spread its wings, Live in the moment, be in the present,-- Life is a reflection of the I AM. I AM SO GRATEFUL for matter in its proper place. For single stars placed in the heavens, And every fish that swims in the sea, Each of us shines in our very own light Dazzling others wit

Gratitude - Being grateful to everything! This is kind of a key to how to find inner peace, because if you are grateful to what you have, you will soon receive new things and experiences that you also will be grateful for. When you start to feel gratitude, it kind of shifts your consciousness. You will be grateful to everything, and everyone. You will let new things and experiences come into your life. You can start right now! Do it the way I do. I have a gratitude book, call

Have you ever caught yourself vigorously complaining about something you felt you couldn't do anything about? Have you ever told yourself you needed to quit complaining, only to find yourself in the same old complaining scenario the very next day? I'm not talking about dissatisfaction that motivates us to look for creative ideas or solutions. And, I don't mean ordinary challenges that help us grow. I'm talking about needless complaining that serves absolutely no purpose becau

Diets don’t work. It would be great if they did. If diets worked, almost everyone with a ‘weight problem’ would have handled it by now. Because dieting is easy. Just change what you eat for a while, and presto!, the weight melts off and the body you’ve been dreaming of is yours!

Whether many of us will admit it or not, we are deeply ungrateful for what we have. It is a habit we acquired during the time the attitude 'more is better' was the dominate attitude of modern civilization. Becoming a Gratitude MASTER has not been easy for me... It has taken me years of practice because I was in deep denial of how ungrateful I truly was. When I was a teenager my mother told me that I was the most ungrateful person she ever knew. I blew her off, after all, I wa

I recently took a trip south, having left the accumulation of snowflakes behind with the hope that all would be melted upon my return!

Many people look at resources as the physical things they have at our disposal for their everyday use ranging from food in the pantry to money in the bank account. Support or aid from people and organizations in times of need is a second and dynamic type of resource. There is a third type of resource we possess that is more important and more powerful than all other accessible resources. Although it is intangible, you are capable of drawing from it and replenishing it at any

Among my memories of growing up is a clear black and white picture of a Korean mother squatting next to her small son surrounded by barren, devastated countryside. The caption unde eath reads, "Where will their food come from now?" Printed by our Sunday "journal" during the Korean War, the picture made me feel sad that these people didn't have any food and lucky that I was born in America and did not have to worry about food. In fact, it never occurred to me to even think abo

A glimmer of something to be grateful for can be found in nearly every situation we experience. It is a rare circumstance that can’t be turned around—even slightly—when it is looked at through the lens of grateful eyes. Admittedly, it takes a conscious choice to be grateful instead of focusing on negative events or emotions. nnOne of the greatest gifts of gratitude is that it is impossible to feel both positive and negative emotions at the same time. Gratitude brings ab

Have you ever found yourself in a slump? You just can't seem to feel good about anything? You feel unfocused about your goals, your irritability level is on the rise? When the alarm goes off in the morning you want to just turn over and skip the day? Yuck, right?rn rnWell what if I told you there is one thing you could be doing everyday, that can take as little as 5 minutes, that would dramatically change not only your outlook but change your reality?rn rnThat one thing is pr

Fostering gratitude is a skill that can literally transform our lives from the inside out. The more we acknowledge the joys, blessings and lessons in our lives, the more we continuously find to be grateful for. Gratitude is a positive, affirming and empowering practice that can impact all areas, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. But what happens during those seemingly bleak, fruitless and dismal moments when our gratitude has dried up like so much withering grass? When w

It can be scary and uncomfortable to say we’re sorry. To own up to the fact that perhaps we did something less than stellar and that it negatively impacted someone we care for. We want to just brush it under the rug. To have it let go. To not have to meet and experience the discomfort of dealing with it! But there’s an important reason to learn to address and clear conflict. It offers a truer possibility of letting it go. It completes the infraction. It allows for the re-building of trust. And it brings the relationship closer.

Perception is a quirky thing. Because, sometimes, lurking in the not-too-hidden recesses of our minds, is a part of us that wants to keep us in pain, shame, hopelessness. And it often it does this by lying to us. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary. And we believe . . . We must learn to become mindful of its stories, and question the veracity of our thinking. So we can be happy and at peace. Living in truth. For example . . .

Embracing life's most difficult moments New challenges erupt, new skills unfold, Change is the only thing that never changes Truly life flows best when we adjust to it. Passing through one stage to another Sometimes takes a gentle shove, Difficult times can only get bette when transformation occurs with love. I AM SO GRATEFUL for positive transformations. An alcoholic joins AA and recovers fromnan addiction, A shy child accepts the lead role in a school play. Helen Keller i

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, I find myself reflecting on all I have to be grateful for; I have much to acknowledge. Each day I open my eyes to the morning light, look out into my lovely bedroom, and am reminded of how far I have come in life. There was a time when I didn’t have two nickels to my name and couldn’t put a roof over the heads of me and my daughter. Now I have my dream home. It’s not a mansion or a palace but it’s spacious, comfortable, beautiful in

Start every day to smile in the face, and I’m sure the days will prove to be a very happy and special days of your life. There are so many reasons to worry and feel bad about, in this world; but very few reasons to be happy and we have to find them all to be happy. Don't collect things , collect beautiful and amazing moment in your life so that you will be happy remembering the day whenever you will be sad about anything. The person who knows all the artwork to be happy in

Moving on and Forgiving (Ken Silvestri, Fred Luskin, and Jed Rosen; (September2009) Life does say no! Even the Buddha explains that life is filled with suffering; however within our experiences of pain there is the simultaneous beauty of nature. As much as our life can say no, we still have the choice to have our glass half full. This paradox of ”damn if we do and damn if we don’t” actually provides us with grist for happiness, especially if we widen our perspective and

A PRAYER FOR THE CAPABLE And as you stand there On time and Appropriately clad for the event With a high-fiber bar in your bag And extra pens Let us take this moment to applaud you. You, the prepared. You, the accomplished. You, the bills-paid-on-time and the-taxes-done-in-March. You, who always returns the shopping cart. You, who never throws a tantrum. While the moody, the irresponsible, the near-hysterical and the rude seem to get All the attentio Let us now praise yo

3 Great Tips to Turn Your Meditation into a Rewarding Experience!rn rnWhen I first started meditating several years ago, it was anything but fulfilling! I would make time in my calendar, sit down and “try” to meditate. I would get uncomfortable trying to hold the same still position, my mind would be full of thoughts and chatter, and I would feel frustrated and unfulfilled when it was over. Can you relate to that? Meditation certainly didn’t live up to its reputation of

Memorial Day in the U.S. started off as a somber day of remembrance, a day where we in America went to cemeteries and placed flags or flowers on the graves of those who died in battle or in some way during the course of war. We remembered our ancestors, family members, loved ones, and even unknown soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. They died for our freedom. Possibly they died to help give freedom to someone else as well. Today, many people actually "celebrate"

HAPPINESS……WHAT IS THAT?rnWhat is happiness? Happiness does not come from material things or from others, it is a state of mind, our attitude towards everyday life, it is the journey and not the destination.rnNo question money carries a significant role in someone happiness, however, I would define it as one of the tools for a peace of mind, it frees us from basic worries such as food, house, clothing and so on. Social status also influences dramatically on happiness, nev

God is so good, He loves to bestow His gifts upo His children. The Bible tells us that all good gifts come from God. If it’s good, then it’s from God. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. I know in my own life from time to time I’ve gotten complacent. This is easy to do in today’s hectic lifestyle, yet in a sense it’s a type of laziness. Complacency ca

What if the key to becoming ‘expecting’, was learning to practice Positive Expectancy? What might happen if, even in the face of all of life’s uncertainty, we chose to become more resilient and hopeful in our thinking? In my HypnoFertility and Conception Coaching work with women hoping to become pregnant, I am often met with a sense of urgency and despair. I hear a lot of “What if’s?” “What if I never get pregnant?” “What if it’s too late?” “What if my eggs are no longer viable?” Or worse, “What if I do get pregnant and lose the baby (again)?”

Ever since we were young, we’ve been asked to compete, to make sure that we’re the best at everything, to ensure that we are always at the top. For most of us, it starts when we’re young; we are told to be the best in class or get first place in sports and stuff like that. We were not taught how to come in second, to be happy that someone else is better than you. Normally when we end up not winning something or coming in second, we often find fault with the person who i

Gratitude is more than just saying the words; it is about feeling gratefulness for all that you are, all that you are becoming, and all that you have in your life. We tend to take things and people for granted when at anytime we could lose them. When you practice gratitude on a daily basis it takes your focus off of the negative aspects of your life and keeps you focused on the positive ones. This of course creates a positive energy stream that flows out into the Universe bri

As I swooshed down the Zoom Flume water slide at Shipwreck Island, my two-year-old son Gareth yelling “Fun! Weeee!” from his spot on my lap, I felt pure jubilation. The sun kissed my skin, water splashed up around me and the breeze carried a salt tang from the ocean mingled with the scent of sun screen. I could taste joy as it tingled in every cell of my being.nnTo experience joy is our purpose in life. If you want to know if you’re going in the right direct

When I wake up in the morning, after I hit the alarm clock to snooze, or turn it off, one of the first things I do before getting out of bed is to run through a list of things that come to me for which I am grateful. I place no importance on the order of things that come to mind, nor do I conce myself with ''finding' something to be grateful about. It is a Gratitude Stream of Consciousness that starts my day off right! It is those first moments when you are awake and conscio

Selecting a gift for someone is a tedious job, and making a gift selection that will complement the person you are giving it to is even tougher! You spend hours of your valuable time in selecting the perfect gift for your loved one and end up picking a gift, which is probably not the right one. It will become a lot easier if you keep certain gift suggestions in your mind while shopping for that perfect gift.nnWhen you go to shop for gifts, think about the person you are going

Everybody knows how to enjoy a vacation. Particularly when we travel abroad, we open our eyes to see new sites and our taste buds are ready to savor new kinds of food. It is easy to appreciate everything when we take a break from our work and our familiar surroundings. But we all return home after vacations and that means returning to routine and our daily chores. In our day to day existence, we tend to take for granted what we already possess and we tend to appreciate only w

A “time-out” is a guaranteed method for stopping the cycle of addictive, self-destructive behavior toward oneself, or destructive, violent behavior toward another. All is takes is contientious effort to work with yourself and a commitment to do the exercise faithfully. Whenever you begin to feel frustrated or out of control, or you feel your desire to ‘use’ arising, say to yourself or your partner: “I am beginning to feel _____ and I need to take a time-out.” The find an alte ative behavior that will help change your physical and emotional state. Go for a walk Breathe

Those of you who’ve read Help Me Live… likely recall Monica, the now-9 year survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma whose cousin told her to visualize green leafy vegetables and even offered to make her a chard milkshake. Monica’s real name is Jane Powell (I used pseudonyms for all my interview subjects), and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. One of the statements people with cancer want others to know is, “I need to forget and laugh.” Jane recently sent me a piece

This weekend, I went on a 12-mile hike. It was hot, and it was painful, and my legs ached and screamed after about mile 9. Looking back, it was a perfect Saturday- an experience cultivated of joy, freedom, and empowerment in the highest senses of the word. When I reflect on my happiest moments, they’re not always the easiest ones. In fact, they aren’t even the ones that entail comfort and relaxation. Indulgence is nice, but for me, happiness comes in the form of the great o

Appreciation is one of the greatest magic tools we have in our bags of tricks. One of the best ways to gauge where you are at in your development as a wonderful spiritual magician – able to weave magic in and out of your own life, is how well you use appreciation. Most mere mortals think that appreciation is a spontaneous event or feeling that simply “happens” from time to time. Maybe they recognize it when it comes over them. Maybe they feel lucky. But most

Whenever I greet Charlie I always get the same response. "So how are you today Charlie?", to which he replies, "Well, every day above ground is a good day!" Without even realizing it Charlie is practicing a fundamental principle of well being. It's often referred to as an "attitude of gratitude".nnWhether you realize it or not we all create our own reality from our predominate thoughts. Your reality can either be pleasant or not so pleasant. If your thoughts are centered arou

It’s an overcast, blustery morning on the shores of Lake Chautauqua. The sun has just risen and is trying hard to break through the clouds. I’m the first to arrive this morning out on the point of the bell tower peninsula. I want to claim my special spot under a particular willow tree right beside the water. It’s a spot I’ve been sitting in nearly every summer for more than 40 years. It’s a sacred spot to me – a place where each summer I meditate, reflect, collect

Gratitude is the Master Key, opening all doors of possibility ... now present within you. The Go Gratitude Experiment is a 42 day journey through Gratitude ~ present knew views for those who choose to Live and thrive through the power of Gratitude!