Count Your Blessings

When you arise in the morning,
think what a precious privilege
it is to be alive –
to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love
Marcus Aurelius

What a beautiful concept to thank the Universe in the morning for the precious privilege of being alive instead of focusing on your problems or what you have to do. Not only feel thankful, you will want to start your day.

Being grateful for what you have changes your perspective on life. I find it gives us permission to look for opportunities and be creative.

Joe, a client, was complaining how hard his life was and everything was going wrong. He was saying affirmations each morning, trying to think positively before getting out of bed and nothing was working. I explained to Joe, sometimes affirmations and forcing yourself to think positively was just an exercise and did not give you actual proof that things were going to be different. The main ingredient for transformation was missing, action and proof. Another tool he could use was to start a “Happiness Journal” and write from one to five things daily that made him happy the day before. Joe agreed to try the exercise. That was a month ago and for the past month every morning before getting out of bed he writes in his “Happiness Journal.” At first Joe found it quite difficult and as time went on it became easier and easier. Now in the morning he looks forward to the exercise.

What changed was Joe saw proof that his was life was good and he was happy. By writing in the journal he was focusing on actual experiences and not forcing himself to feel happy.

Following are some experiences that could make you happy during the day:

• Receiving a letter from the IRS that you will receive your economic stimulus payment in the mail within the week.
• Your grandson calls to invite you to a movie.
• Taking a walk in the woods seeing the birds, chipmunks and beautiful flowers.
• Coming home from a weekend away you find the air conditioner is not working. Checking the circuit breakers you realize the air conditioner circuit breaker was off. Fixing the problem your house was cool within a couple of hours.
• Did not eat junk food for one whole day.

The list can go on and on. What is important you acknowledge the beautiful things happening in your life and realize life is good.

Now is your chance to start a “Happiness Journal,” write between one and five things daily that made you happy the day before. Enjoy!!