Tag Archives: Gratitude journal

22

Make Your Life More Abundant

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abundanceLike many people, I look at how much I have and wonder if I should be doing things to attract more into my life. More money, more love, more everything! My interest led me to investigate, and I started to do some research on the topic. I found a bunch of ideas about attracting more abundance into your life. We all think that we will be happier if we have more money, love, fame, or whatever. That is a philosophical statement for another day. Today, there are three simple things that you can start doing today that will make your life more abundant in what you are seeking.

Gratitude Journal

I have always been a fan of the gratitude journal. I have kept one sporadically over the last three to four years. When I was diligent, in all honesty, more came into my life in all areas. You get busy and tell gratitude journalyourself; I will think about them and not write them down. In my experience, much of those thoughts’ power is left behind. So the simple process I use is: I write ten things I am grateful for each morning over the past 24 hours. I will try to make 3 of the new stuff. I believe the activity’s value is thinking about the genuine gratitude you feel about each thing. Adding new items creates a mindset of looking for what you are grateful for and not taking things for granted. We are a fortunate society, and you see a list of items daily to feel thankful for.

I think this works because it creates an energy of gratitude. If you are a believer in personal power, what you focus on brings more of that into your life. Being grateful for what you have will get more of that into your life. Be thankful for the love in your life, and soon you will find more of it in your life.

Give Freely

This isn’t easy because I always say I will gladly give when I have more stuff. The problem with that is I never know when that is. Fear of not having enough will stop you from passing, but giving freelyto get it, you always have to give. I don’t think it means giving everything you have but establishing a mindset of giving. That allows you to deal with a feeling of abundance, not lack.

Giving doesn’t have to be financial either, and I think giving with the right attitude of your time and talents can be just as powerful for creating abundance in your life. Again I believe that the attitude you start by looking for opportunities to give is the key to attracting more lot into your life. Give without a chance of recognition, and that creates the best energy. When you give, you accept that there is more on the way, and it always is. If you are afraid that you will be lacking, you focus on lack, and what you focus on will grow in your life.

I would encourage people to start small and see what happens. Give and watch. I have done a few experiments, and most have positive results. Give a small amount freely and see what happens. Give because you want to and focus on that. Don’t think of the lack. Think of the abundance, and hope that your gift can genuinely help someone else. It could be money, donated clothes, the time you gave, or even a conscious choice to be kind.

Set Clear Intentions

Almost every book I have read about creation, abundance, or self-improvement. The first thing you have to do is to know what you want, specifically. Many people have the generic answer of more love or money, and those generic intentions will bring generic results. It seems that asking clearly for what you want is essential in attracting more abundance into your life. Don’t be afraid to ask for exactly what you want.

Like anything, practice is the key to doing this. We have been conditioned to believe that we have no control over what we get. But there is increasing evidence through Quantum Physics that we are absolutely in control of what we see in our lives. Set a clear intention, and believe that it can happen, take action toward it, and it will happen. Don’t skip over that TAKE ACTION part because that is the key. Your efforts provide the momentum to your intention and move them from the page of thought into reality.

You can try these three simple practices today to investigate, drawing more abundance into your life. More money, love, or success. Whatever it is that you are looking for. I always try to remember that we are unique spiritual beings placed on Earth to have a great experience, not suffer and be unhappy.

A little song of gratitude for you

22

Being Grateful

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gratitude-logoOne of the simple things in life that we all know we should practice gratitude for the things we have in our lives that bring happiness.

It is easy to look at the struggles and challenges of life and forget to see all of the things that make each day a positive experience. One of the best practices is setting aside a time of day to look at the past day and decide what you are grateful for.

Build Your Mindset

MindsetIt is a great time to build your mindset of appreciation for whatever makes your life a little better. It is my practice to write ten things a day that I appreciate, and I try to make 2 or 3 new or original. This practice gets your mind looking for ideas that you might add to the list throughout the day. Seeking gratitude improves your focus to include good thoughts and moves you away from negative thinking and worry.

Open the Door for More

Being grateful and appreciating the positive things in your life opens the door for more of those things to come into your life. A gratitude journal is a reflective moment that will only make you happier and make you feel better about life and the things you experience in it.

Open-the-door-to-moreThe other choice is to complain about everything you don’t like about your experience. That only puts your focus more on those negative things, and of course, more of those things will come into your life. Nobody cares about your complaints; they are your issues. At best, anyone you are complaining to is just looking for an opportunity to share their grievances about why they are unhappy.

Like most things, it comes down to a simple choice that anyone can make. You don’t have to be intellectually superior to be grateful, but you must be smart. It will make your life better and bring more of what you want into your consciousness.

The Power of Thank You

hqdefaultThere is a lot of power in using the words Thank You! It has been clinically proven that if you thank a new acquaintance for anything they do, it makes them more likely to seek to further your relationship. Gratitude makes you physically and mentally healthier, enhances empathy, reduces aggression, improves the quality of your sleep, improves self-esteem, and makes you think more efficiently.

Best of all, there is no downside to the practice at all. Have you ever heard of someone being harmed by being grateful and saying a simple thank you? Of course not. Those two little words make others feel appreciated and open the doorway for more positive creation in your life.

Appreciation Game

A high activity that I read about is the Appreciation Game. When you are feeling angry, upset, or just in a negative mindset, it is because of the thoughts you are choosing to entertain. Our minds are fantastic tools, but they are only tools to be used by us. They are capable of thinking one thought at a time, and you decide the content, tenor, and tone of that thought. So you choose to find things in your life that you appreciate and think about. I understand the weather. I enjoyed my coffee today. It makes life better. I appreciate my spouse. I know the kind thing my kids did. I appreciate my health. I appreciate having money. I appreciate my success. I appreciate my life, etc. It will flip your mindset to the positive side if you let it.

Of course, you can choose to stay mired in the negative for whatever reason you want. Anger, jealousy, and judgment are just different masks of fear. These have something to do with not meeting your needs and some pain coming your way.

The choice is yours, live in fear, or live in gratitude.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” —Zig Ziglar

“Learn to be thankful for what you already have while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” —Oprah Winfrey

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” —William Arthur Ward

 

21

Gratitude

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gratitude 1I have often considered that truly practicing gratitude is an important step into bringing more of what you want in your life into your life.  Every day, I am more and more convinced this is true.  I had often talked a good game about being grateful, really taking a moment, and appreciating the things in my life, but my process was off. The past year has taught me many valuable lessons. One of the biggest is to be grateful for every day you have to live and every person who brings something positive into your life. You never know when people you count on will be gone, or the positives will be harder to find.  List, think about and feel positive about the good things you have. They are always there; it is sometimes hard to notice them because our focus strays so far toward what we don’t have. Be grateful, enjoy those moments, accept your positive things.

What I used to do for Gratitude

I would take a moment and be thankful for things in my life, people I came across, and things that happened to me. I think this might be OK for others, but my problem was that it was inconsistent, and I might not recall something I had real gratitude for.  I also spent inconsistent amounts of time thinking of the blessings in my life.  I would try thinking of them on the way to work, but I am easily distracted, and one thing would drive out another. I was inconsistent and sloppy with my gratitude, and I met a lot of blocks in my life. Things that stopped me from achieving success or getting things I really wanted in my life.

It is difficult sometimes to maintain your gratitude when you have gone through a big shakeup in your life. Losing someone that matters to you, or having a job change, or just being put out of your “normal” routine, whatever that is.  When the negative entered my life, I had little focus for what I was glad to have and a lot of anger about what I did not.  That is a path to more frustration in life.

My New Process of Gratitude

gratitude It does not take a brain surgeon to figure out what to do differently. I was inconsistent, so I needed to add a complete gratitude practice in my life.  To build that consistency and to make the topics of my gratitude consistent.  I had to take a moment each day to write it down. I didn’t try to write down a million things, just three to focus on and get my energy of being grateful to flow through me.

I always try to have my gratitude notebook with me, so when I have a moment each morning, I jot down my list of things I am grateful for. I would suggest this for everyone for this reason. Even though it seems a simple thing, there is a contemplation moment that happens when you actually write down your gratitude.  The thought has to travel from your mind through your arm to your hand and onto the paper.  My lists are not all that elaborate because I am pretty grateful for the little things in life.

I am grateful for good cups of coffee, good conversation, something interesting I read on a blog, a book I read, having money in the bank, a text from a friend who made my day, or a long, verbose Facebook message was awesome to read. The list gets a bit long, but I have tried to keep it to what comes to mind.  I can always look back to see what I wrote before.

The Blocks are Disappearing

It may just be a coincidence, and those who are negative will say that is all it is, yet I don’t believe that. After a short time, I mean a matter of days,  blocks I was having in life was melting away.  I could give specific examples, but they will only mean something to me.  Making a gratitude list for me has become something real and powerful.  I know how it sounds, but I can feel the difference.

Being grateful is the key to accepting more things into your life. Whatever it is.  If you are lonely, look for when you don’t feel too lonely during the day and be thankful for those.  If you are poor, be grateful for the things you do have. If you are not feeling well, find the moments you don’t feel as bad and be grateful for them.  If you are particularly down, find the little things around you all the time, the weather, a smile from a stranger, flowers, and unexpected fortunate turning. Whatever you come in contact with, be grateful for it.  A momentary contemplation of thanks is all it takes.

The worst thing that will happen is you will feel better about life. The best thing that will happen is that you will open yourself up to more of the same experiences.  It doesn’t really matter if you believe what I am telling you or not.  Just contemplate what will happen if you do nothing different? Nothing different will happen. If you are lonely, sick, poor, or just generally unhappy, what the heck do you have to lose? Give it an honest attempt and see what an increased awareness of gratitude does in your life.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” —Zig Ziglar

“Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” —Oprah Winfrey