gratitude list

Technorati Tags: Gratitude, gratitude list, life is good, look for the good in life

Have you ever had one of these days? Everything going great and you are just going with the flow. The sun is shining, you do not have a care in the world and life is good.

Then someone says something, or does something or looks at you weird and everything goes straight into the toilet.

And it does not matter how big or little a thing was that happened, your serenity is just shot. Like I said, serenity to death row in 30 seconds.

Now, nothing is good in the world. Your boss hates you or your kids hate your or your best friend is gone, or your dog is gone. The things that have happened or are about to happen are now endless. And, it is all in your head.

I used to say that when ever my boss’s door was closed, he was getting ready to fire me. Talk about having a major ego problem. I was thinking that I was so important that I was the only thing or person that he was thinking about.

When something like this happens, it is time to get a different perspective on things. Get it out of your head and into the sane world. You need to talk to someone or write it down on paper.

By getting things out of my head and into the real world, my perspective does a major change. I can, sometimes, see how my thinking is totally wrong. I can see that my ego has taken me on another major head trip.

This is when it is great to have some good friends. I am not talking about just the guys (or gals) at work or the ones that you hang out with. They will probably have the same kind of messed up thinking as you are trying to correct.

No, I am talking about a “spiritual guide”. Someone that has their feet firmly planted on the ground. This person does not necessarily need to be a religious person but someone that is not prone to fits of fantasy. Not someone that will just validate any weird thought that you throw out.

I have heard that “my mind is a bad neighborhood to visit on my own” and that I need to have a guide with me when I visit.

This is just some of my thoughts to show you that you are not alone in this world. And to tell you that my life is as good as I allow it to be.

Technorati Tags: as good as I allow it to be, change your life, Gratitude, gratitude list, Happiness, life is good, look for the good in life, love life, serenity

Have you ever wondered if there was a quick way to begin having a good day every day?

Are your days less than great and somewhat depressing? Do you constantly see the bad things that are going on all around you?

Then I have the perfect way to start having good days all the time. You can create a gratitude list each and every day.

That is right, every morning, right after getting up, write down ten things for which you are grateful. Make a list of ten items daily that brings a little smile or some pleasure to your life, things that make your life easier or more enjoyable. And, each day, make it a new list full of different items.

Regardless of how bad you may think your life is, there are things that make you grateful or put a little bit of pleasure in your life.

When I look at the sunrise on the way to work, I have a choice to make my thoughts good or bad. I can think that I would rather be back in bed sleeping the morning away.

Or, I can think I am grateful that my eyes work so that I can see this beautiful sunrise. How many people in the world would change places with you in a heartbeat if they had your eyesight and could look at the sunrise?

On that same drive in to work, I could get upset about the sounds of the rush hour traffic, the roar of the engine noise and horns being honked by the impatient drivers. Or, I can be happy that I can listen to my favorite radio station and the pleasant music. There are thousands of people what would love to have your sense of hearing instead of their world without sound.

It is a decision that is made on a daily basis to experience gratitude and be happy about life. As you make the decision to be grateful about the little things, your life will start to improve. You will begin to see that life is good. As your thoughts begin to focus on the good things of life, more good things will come into your life.

The law of Karma states that what we put out into the world (our thoughts) will come back to us.

So, for my money, I choose to concentrate on the things for which I am grateful. These are the things that I want to expand in my life.

Technorati Tags: change your life, gratitude list, look for the good in life

Thanksgiving weekend of 2002 could have been the worst weekend of my life. If I listened to the doctors and their prognosis, it may very well have been devastating.

That is the weekend that my daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with a life threatening disease. A disease that does not allow her to process all of her amino acids so she cannot have much protein. A disease that prompted the doctors to say that she would probably not live 6 months.

This weekend (Thanksgiving 2007), I had the privilege of watching her blow out candles on her 5th birthday cake. See, the doctors do not always know what they are talking about.

In the past 5 years, this little lady has been a blessing to our family and touched so many lives. She has a smile as big as Texas and loves life. She does not know that she has a disease. She only knows that “today I can get up and play”. She is not concerned about what will happen tomorrow or if/when her disease will get worse, she only knows that “today I am loved”.

Our family could have taken that situation and said “why did it happen to me/us?”. Instead, we have taken her as a blessing today. One of God’s little people put down here to be with us for as long as he wants to share her.

If we had been looking for the bad part of this, it would have been very easy to find all kinds of unhappy aspects on which to concentrate. We could have expanded all of the pain misery that she has had to endure. Or we can dwell on all the happiness she has brought to this world.

It is great to watch a child enjoy life. To laugh, run and play without a thought about what may lay in her future. To see her chase the cats, play in the water sprinkler or ride her bike.

Not to be a pessimist but none of us have any guarantee of a long life. All of us may have the opportunity to have something remove us from this world. We need to live our life to the fullest and enjoy the present.

We should all take an example from the way kids play. How they enjoy their lives before we train them to become worriers and strivers. Before they learn to live in the future and not enjoy the present.

Wayne Dyer has said that he has a suit in his closet that “has no pockets”. This is to remind him that the last suit that he will wear (to his funeral) will not need pockets to hold any money or any of his possessions. He is trying to tell us that we must live in the now.

I ask you, have you ever seen a hearse in a funeral pulling a U-Haul trailer full of possessions. Have you ever heard someone on their death bed say that they should have spent more time at the office or on the job?

If we look inside for our joy and happiness, it will make our lives something that will be a lot easier to enjoy.

You find what you look for so look for the joyand happiness in the situation. Look for the half full glass instead of the half empty one.

If you look for the bad things in life, you will find them. But, if you look for the joy and happiness, that is what you will find.

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