Gratitude is your best friend.

How often are you thankful for everything that is going right in your life? So often we get pulled in by the tides of emotion when we are stressed out, burned out, feeling frustrated or just down. It’s easy to fall into the habit of negative thinking, but often thinking about what seems to be going wrong only makes us feel worse. We can choose to be mindful of what we think about, and how we experience this life. Of course it can take time to undo years of habitual thought patterns. I believe that our thoughts create our reality, and what we think about we bring about. Not in a literal sense, of course, but thoughts carry a vibration that attracts to it a similar vibration. When we put out positivity, it comes back to us. Our mentality is within our control. We can change our perspectives from negative to positive. There’s a few interesting talks on YouTube by Bruce Lipton that go into the science around this idea and how it relates to our cells and neuro-chemical pathways created in the brain. I'd highly recommend checking out his lecture on Biology of Belief.

Anyway, if you ever need a pick-me-up, gratitude is your best friend. I’ve made it a habit to be grateful for at least 3 things everyday. If I’m feeling down, I try to think of at least 10 things. Some days I can easily think of a hundred things I am thankful for - the roof over my head, my health, loved ones, pets, etc. It seems the more I think about it, the more I realize how blessed I am, the more it elevates my mood. They say that it only takes 21 days for a new habit (positive or negative) to be formed. I put this to the test. I practiced writing down everything I am grateful for in a gratitude journal for 21 days, and at the end of it I was absolutely beaming, and I really felt like I was appreciating life so much more. Gratitude is a solid tool to helping you align your life with your heart. The more you are grateful, not just say it, but feel it, the more magical your experience of life will become. At least, that has been my experience. What are you grateful for?

This video suggests taking the practice to another level by deciding to stop complaining for 30 days. I'd highly recommend checking it out as well. Shifting your thoughts from complaint to being mindful of what you are grateful for helps us realize how much power positivity has on us. Have you ever tried it, and if not, would you?