Heading back to the basics this week. The number one thing you can do to improve your happiness is be grateful for what you already have. For every little thing you have. Take it from former pessimist #1, this is the key to a more satisfying life.
We have to start being grateful for all of the things in our life. Not just the great, big things we all want. But all the small things that make up everyday life. The more you are grateful for what you have, trust me, the more will come into your life. Sound like B.S? I know, that is what I always thought too. One day though, I figured I had nothing to lose by putting it into practice. You know what happened? My life improved.
I was told to be grateful for my crappy car. That I HAD to be grateful for my crappy car in order to get a new and better one. Why? Because thinking this way literally rewires your brain. It brings the law of attraction into effect and you will find more and more to be grateful for. How can we appreciate our crappy car? We can be thankful that it starts (yes, it starts with something this simple) and gets us to where we need to go. To our job where we make money that supplies us with the means to get what we need in life. To the grocery store to get food for our family. To the doctor when someone is sick. To the park when we want to take in some beauty and have fun with our loved ones. Appreciate all it does for you and not only will it help attract better things in your life, but it makes life better when we get into a car every day that we appreciate rather than loath.
It’s about changing your focus. Look around you. What do you have in your life that you love? Is it your family? Your pet? Your home? Where you live? Is it how you look? Whatever it is…this is what you focus on. You think about what you have instead of what you don’t have. And this truly is the key. Once you start thinking about all you already have in your life instead of what you do not have and want….your life and attitude will start to change. It sounds like it should be easy but it isn’t. It takes time. It’s a change from how you may have always thought. So, it will take some work and adjusting. But trust me…it is worth it. It will change your life.
If you are pessimist like I was you often feel sorry for yourself. You often think that you get all the bad breaks. You think that the world is unfair for you and know things will never change because life is out to get you. As a person who used to think this way I can tell you….this is the way to continue feeling unsatisfied and unhappy. If you can start to focus on what you have instead of what you don’t…things will start to change. This is why I tout the gratitude journal so much. It sets you up to look for things every single day to be grateful for. And it will feel like work at first but after some time if you keep at it (and you may not even realize it at first) but you will have transformed into seeing the good instead of the bad. And guess what? Bad things happen to everyone. Honestly, even if you don’t see it, we all have our times when things don’t go our way. But the difference between happy and unhappy people is that those that are happy don’t focus on the bad…they focus on the good. And the more you focus on the good the more you will find to be grateful for. Is it really that simple? As a cynic at heart and a former pessimist I can tell you…yes, it really is that simple! But if you don’t already think this way it will take some time to make the transition. Don’t give up…it will happen!
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and your circumstances. Feeling like a victim does absolutely nothing to change your situation. What does help is feeling grateful for the little things you love in your life. If you don’t have anything in your life that you love than you aren’t really trying but I will talk tomorrow about bringing more joy into your daily life. Feeling grateful for what is already around you will bring you more into the present moment. Stop waiting for joy…find some right now. There is so much around you already that you take for granted every single day. Look around you…right now…find three things you absolutely love. Whether it is a person, a pet, a thing or something in nature. I know you can find three things. Then focus on them. Be mindful of them. Be grateful for them. You are on your way.
It’s Monday, my favorite day of the week after Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Start that gratitude journal if you haven’t already. And go make today, your best day yet.
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