Tag Archives: appreciation game

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

Grateful

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Thank You For Being You!!

grateful Moving through your life, from task to task, work time to free time, one of the most important thoughts to keep in your consciousness is to be grateful for all of the things in life you experience every day. Some people and experiences bring joy, and some get lessons. All need to be appreciated for what they are because……….

Being grateful is an attitude that increases your positive energy, makes you more efficient and is in the doorway of abundance. In every situation, there is a choice of opinion. One can decide to be angry, disillusioned, bitter, or worried. Or a mind can be appreciative, grateful, accepting, and joyous. In each moment, the choice of gratitude exists, and I encourage you to be thankful in your thoughts, words, and actions today. Show that appreciation wherever you can by choosing the simple words, “Thank you!”

Don’t Take Things for Granted.

When life is going well in any area, relationships, financially, or achieving personal goals, take a moment and be grateful. Recognizing the presence of positive and enjoyable things in your life will open the doorway gratefulfor other “good” things to come into your life. Those who take things for granted tend to experience little to no joy, no matter what they have. Does it matter if you have everything if you don’t have the mental acuity to appreciate these gifts? Look to be grateful for the smallest of things, and joy will arise in you.

You never know when the good things in your life will pass away and disappear like smoke from a smooth summer’s fire. Each moment you have which are joyful and shared with someone you love should be appreciated, and a feeling of gratitude should accompany it. We are not guaranteed anything in this life, only a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is up to you to either appreciate your life and those in it. Or you can choose to take it for granted and be angry. This decision is one we make every day. Where are your choices leading you?

Say Thank You Often

In the course of your activity in a day, seek out situations to use the phrase “thank you.” Be mindful of why you use the term, and you will see more conditions the words can describe in your life. Each time you are grateful, from your heart, for something someone else has done, you increase the positivity of the world in just a fraction. Thank you have the power to show, share, and transfer the feelings of being grateful to other people.

It is also essential to be able to accept gratitude from others. If they take the time to acknowledge your acts of kindness with the words, thank you, make sure to keep the positive flowing by responding with a heartfelt word. The best one I know, I was taught by my great-grandmother. When I would thank her for one of the millions of kindnesses she showed me, her response was always cheerful and heartfelt “You are very welcome.” It still transferred the joy she felt in giving and made me feel loved and appreciated. Spreading that feeling can’t be a bad thing. Be conscious of the opportunities to thank you today and show how grateful you are for all things, big and small.

Appreciation Game

One of the most reliable ways to turn your attitude around is to focus on the appreciation game. This gratitude is the mental process of shifting your conscious focus away from negative thoughts of regret or anxiety and being grateful for the positive things in your life. Look gratefulat how fortunate you are. All people can find something to be thankful for having. Some can never find anything. The choice is always up to you and your mind.

Look at your life today and list, either mentally or on a piece of paper, things you are grateful for in your experience. Good weather, people who help you, people who care about you, coffee, reliable transportation, a job you enjoy, the ability to learn, an act of kindness, something in nature you witnessed, or anything you can think of experiencing. Just a moment of being grateful for each thing, and your mood will flip because it is tough to be negative and thankful at the same time.

Be grateful today, say thank you often, and count the good things in your life. It will be impossible to be in a bad mood. You will be a light of positivity. All this comes by becoming more conscious of your thoughts, words, and actions of being grateful in life. I thank those who have lied to me because I learned how much I value truth. Thank you to those who have hurt me because, through suffering, we find our most authentic selves and understand what is important to us. I thank those who count themselves as my enemies; you have taught me to understand the opinions of others never define my value.

“Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” ~Brian Tracy

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” —Charles Dickens.

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