Tag: grateful

What you focus on grows

When you focus on the positive, you’ll see (and get) more positivity in your life. When you focus on the negative, you’ll find more negativity in your life. It’s really that simple.

This is why starting and ending your day with a prayer, thinking about what you’re grateful for, stopping and taking a moment of silence, etc is so helpful. These things can help you be intentional and focus on how great your life really is.

There will always be bumps in the road. Life is not always going to be easy. But at any given time, there will be something you can be grateful for…

So focus on the positive. Actively seek it out. Surround yourself with other positive people, read positive/inspiring quotes and books, listen to positive podcasts or books, and stop watching the news (which mostly conveys negative information). What you focus on will grow and you’ll tend to find more of that thing.

Here’s to the new year!

Today is New Year’s Eve.

Recently, I’ve talked a lot about looking forward to the next year – about setting goals, overcoming new challenges, and bettering every aspect of your life to become the best version of yourself.

But as you have free time today, instead of being so future-focused, take time to reflect on the previous year. For some, 2021 has been the best year of their lives. For others, it’s been the most difficult year of their lives. But regardless of the year as a whole, look back in your calendar. I’m sure you’ll be able to find events that contributed to your happiness (like going on vacation, meeting up with friends, etc). Be grateful for the people, circumstances, and your own thoughts/attitude that allowed you to really enjoy those moments. And vow to yourself to have more of those moments this year.

So today’s plan, other than reflecting on the past year, is to ask yourself the following…What events did you do that brought you the most joy last year? Which events brought you the most stress? How can you incorporate more of the good and less of the bad into your schedule for 2022? For things that you love doing, but won’t do unless it’s planned, paid for, and on the calendar, get those scheduled now. It’s too easy to just keep going with “everyday life” and forget to have fun and live a little (especially if you’re a workaholic).

Lastly, end 2021 the right way. Be safe. Be healthy. And try not to start the first day of 2022 hungover and unable to start your goals/resolutions.

Gratitude versus envy

“It’s a funny thing about life…once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” – Germany Kent

Many of us live a life of over abundance. We are surrounded with a surplus of food and drink to keep us from feeling hunger, of toys and games to keep us from being bored, etc. But because we are constantly surrounded by more and more things (we can’t even get away from it on social media), our focus often shifts from being grateful for what we have to always comparing our lives to others and wanting more. If we focus on what we lack, we will never have enough. But if we focus on being grateful for what we have, envy, jealousy, and desire will have less control over us.

Reframing your perspective to experience more gratitude

When things don’t go as planned, you can either look at it as a negative or spin it into a positive. For example:

When you’re sore from a workout, it allows you to be grateful for everyday when you feel “normal.”

When you’re sick, it allows you to be grateful for when you’re healthy.

When you got a bad night of sleep, it allows you to be grateful for when you sleep really well (or even moderately well).

We can go on and on with the examples. The point is that things won’t always go your way in life. You may have a plan, but there’s little reason to believe that everything will go exactly according to that plan. You can either pout when that happens and get down on your luck, or you can spin the narrative. Use it to your advantage and learn to really embrace the things we often take for granted.

Just remember, when you’re feeling sick, or tired, or sore, it’s only temporary. What about those who are chronically sick, tired, or sore? What about those people who have it way worse than you – who don’t have access to medicine, to a bed or proper shelter to sleep/live in, or who are physically or mentally handicapped?

It’s easy to make yourself the center of your world, because you’re always with yourself and you’re always aware of how you’re feeling. But once you reframe you’re perspective and start thinking about other people and their situations, you can begin feeling more grateful for even your “bad” days.