The Gratitude Experiment

We here at the Gratitude Experiment are doing our own personal research to discover the power of practicing daily gratitude in our lives (and anyone can participate…click on the How to Participate tab.) We want to know if the practice can actually transform our lives. And those of you who have been practicing proactive gratitude for some time may have already proven to yourself that you are now happier, healthier, sleep better, have more fulfilling relationships, more fulfilling work, and your success and prosperity may have even increased.  Many have proven this to themselves.

But did you know that there has been a fair amount of scientific research already done to answer this same question?…most notably by a psychologist and professor at the University of California, Davis, Dr. Robert Emmons.

Emmons has published his studies in medical journals and in several textbooks.  Emmons theory is that, similar to our weight after dieting, our level of happiness has a certain “set-point” that it returns to shortly after any conditions or experiences that would bring about joy or sorrow.  He believes we are genetically coded to experience a certain level of happiness.  But, that this level can be positively and permanently altered by practicing intentional gratitude.

Results of his study indicate that “participants in the gratitude condition felt more joyful, enthusiastic, interested, attentive, energetic, excited, determined and strong” in addition to offering others more emotional support or help than the control group.   The gratitude participants reported sleeping better, had increased positive feelings and life satisfaction, and were 25% happier overall than before they began the experiment.   He believes that gratitude may lessen and even prevent depression.

How does the practice of intentional gratitude affect our physical well-being?  Well, a study done by psychologist Glen Affleck indicates that heart patients “who feel appreciative of life” after a heart attack have a reduced risk for subsequent attacks. And a study conducted at the Duke University Medical Center found that patients with significant arterial blockage were substantially less likely to say they count their blessings, and were encouraged to include the practice as a coping strategy.

Studies show that even our life span is positively affected by the practice to gratitude, and negatively affected by negative emotions…particularly depression and pessimism. A 35 year longitudinal study of male Harvard students found significantly less disease at midlife in the optimists than from their pessimistic counterparts.  And a study at the Mayo Clinic found that those who scored high on optimism had a 50% lower risk of premature death than those who scored as being more pessimistic.  (See previous blog post The Gratitude Experiment Day 57 on the subject of how the practice of gratitude relates to optimism.)

Hopefully there will be more studies done in the future on this often overlooked practice of gratitude and how extremely beneficial it can be to every area of our lives.  And if you have heard of any studies done in this area, please share them here with us.

In the meantime, we will be doing our own personal experiments with the practice of proactive gratitude, and reaping all the rewards!

How does the practice of proactive gratitude help us achieve our goals and realize our intentions? The answer is indirectly, yet most definitely.

When we set our intention to achieve a specific goal or manifest some good in our life, whether that’s finding our perfect work, making a specific amount of money or simply being more loving, the practice of proactive gratitude is essential to our success.

We know that practicing gratitude helps us more fully enjoy our life as it is right now. It encourages us to want what we have. And that is the beauty of gratitude. Being fully present in our lives and enjoying the “now moment” is true living.  At the same time, the practice of gratitude also empowers us to realize our full potential – to expand our experience of good.  Nothing in life is stagnant.  It is the nature of the universe to expand and be more fully realized.

It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but yet so true, that if we are always dissatisfied with our life as it is, it makes it more difficult to move forward into a greater experience of good. Most people think dissatisfaction with their current circumstances is the motivation required to achieve something greater. But that’s not true, and here’s why…

When you are dissatisfied with something in your life, you are actively resisting what is. When you actively resist what is, your energy repels the good that is trying to get to you. Your focus is one pointed…toward what you don’t want…and you often miss opportunities that may be right in front of you. People, situations and events that could easily help you get closer to realizing your dreams, go unnoticed.

Being grateful for all that we have helps us remember how blessed we are. When we feel blessed, it is easier to accept that, in this ever expanding universe, there is more and more good just waiting for us, and more importantly…we feel worthy of it. This changes our energy into one of attracting more good, rather than repelling it. We begin to see opportunities and situations that could propel us closer to our goal. As we continue to practice daily proactive gratitude, synchronistic events begin to happen on a regular basis.  A way is made clear for us.

Something happened the other day that brought this into focus for me. I’ve been practicing proactive gratitude for almost a year now and have noticed my energy begin to shift. About two months ago I came up with an idea for a new collectible toy for tweens (with the help of my 11-year-old twins, naturally). I set my intention to develop the idea, create a prototype and license it to a major toy manufacturer to produce. For the last couple of weeks I’ve wondered how in the world I would ever even get in the door of any toy manufacturer. I know no one in that world. I’m not even sure how to proceed past writing a proposal and creating a prototype.  However, throughout the process I have remained in gratitude for 1) the idea, 2) the time to pursue the idea, 3) my kids, 4) the continuing inspiration and passion, 5) the encouragement of others and 6) all the synchronistic events that keep occurring, like this one…

The other day I felt compelled to completely clean out my office and reorganize everything. There were piles of paperwork, an overflowing bookcase and stacks of Lord knows what everywhere.  As I was relocated some of the books from the overflowing bookcase I noticed a big book that I have never seen before. I don’t even know how it got there.  I picked it up and read the title: The Toy and Game Inventor’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Pitch, License and Cash-In on Your Ideas. Bingo! It is exactly what it says in the title, including contact information for 50 toy manufacturers and how to approach them. I never would have noticed it if I wasn’t compelled to reorganize my office (which, let me be honest, is not a common occurrance.)

I know that if I continue to remain in gratitude around this project, everything will fall into place just as it should for the realization of this big dream.  I know it because it’s happened before. It seems  that every good thing that’s manifested in my life was accompanied by a state of gratitude.

Prove it to yourself.  If there is a big goal in your life, some greater good you wish to realize, try this…

1.  Be grateful for where you are right now. Think of as many things as possible that are now, or could potentially be, a blessing in your life. 

2. Practice gratitude around your intention or goal.  From the idea, to the inspiration, to the energy you have, to your abilities, to the resources available to you, to your friends and associates who could assist you in some way.  Practice being grateful for these things, and more, on a daily basis.

3. Look for the synchronistic events that occur.  Acknowledge any and all steps forward toward your goal and celebrate them!

Let me know how it goes for you.

Many blessings!

On a recent hike in the mountains, my husband and I came across a truly curious site.   At first glance it appeared to simply be a fallen tree, uprooted and lying quite dead on the forest floor, its roots jutting out sideways onto the trail.  But on second glance, we noticed that what we thought was a tree growing close behind, was in fact, a very large branch growing out of this same “dead” tree.  This branch was reaching up through all the other dead branches…and was very much alive.  It was not struggling to survive, it was clear that this branch was thriving….an abundance of brilliant green leaves dancing in the wind.

“How could this be,” we thought?  We inspected the tree a little more closely and discovered that a small portion of the root system…maybe 1/16^th of it…was indeed still buried into the soil.

This branch refused to give up. It refused to accept whatever trauma had felled the tree, and simply affirmed its right to live and prosper. It was an example of the “optimism of nature” that Ralph Waldo Emerson talked about.  I can imagine a conversation between the tree and the branch, with the tree saying, “It’s over, we’re done for,” while the branch says, “oh, but look, there’s still a part of us connected to the earth, and look at the beautiful sun shining down on us.”  “I for one,” the branch continues, “am grateful for the life force which sustains me, the rain that feeds me, and sun which compels me to grow…woo-hoo…l’chiam…to life!”  And it grew and prospered.

From my perspective, this branch represents the part of us that refuses to be “felled” by life; the part of us that, despite past trauma and current challenges, despite setbacks and obstacles, has decided to instead look at the blessings in life and celebrate them.  It’s the eternal optimist…the grateful self within us.  And it is this “self” that…if we nurture it…will give rise to a rich and joyous life.  A life worth living.

Now, it seems that some people are born optimistic.  They just naturally wake up in the morning and notice the good, while others can’t seem to tear their attention away from what’s wrong with life.  But we can all cultivate an optimistic approach to life by (you guessed it) practicing proactive gratitude.  You cannot help being optimistic when you’re committed to searching out, documenting and celebrating the good that is in your life now.  The practice of proactive gratitude trains your brain to be optimistic.  It shifts your mind to automatically notice the blessings and to see and act on opportunities others miss.  It trains your whole being to vibrate with joyful expectancy.  And this vibration acts as a magnet drawing even more blessings into your life. 

If you are new to the practice or want to review the steps of proactive gratitude again, click here.  Then, think of the thriving branch growing out of apparent death and awaken your grateful, optimistic self.

Many blessings and l’chiam!

Have you ever looked back on your life and noticed that your practice of gratitude (however it was developed at the time) actually transformed something in your life, or directly attracted more of that for which you were grateful?

Have you ever noticed there is more harmony in a certain area of your life, or an abundance of something you’ve always found it easy to be grateful for?

Take a moment today to look back and see if you can discover the miraculous power of gratitude at work in your life.

For example, this morning I was sitting in my covered patio looking out and appreciating my backyard.  My yard literally backs up to a lush forest filled with birds, squirrels, deer, butterflies and other wildlife.  I began to think about how much I appreciate…and have always appreciated…being surrounded by nature and having a lovely backyard. I remembered my first backyard when my fiance and I rented a house together for the first time.

As a single adult, I had always lived in an apartment. Even as a child we always lived in an apartment. So my first house with a backyard was a huge treat!  We were living in one of those little 40’s bungalow-style houses in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles with a postage stamp backyard, but I absolutely adored every square inch of it.  There were trees along the fence that gave us privacy.  There was even an apricot tree that I enjoyed watching bloom and come to fruition. I would try to pick the fruit before the squirrels got to them (I think I managed to salvage about 1/3 of  the apricots) and share it at the office. I even canned them one year in brandy and gave them as Christmas presents (the apricots, not the squirels )

We also bought a hammock at one point and oh, how I loved lying in it and staring up at the sky, watching the clouds float past.  The backyard also allowed us the opportunity of having our first dog.  And boy, did she enjoy that backyard!  She would run around and around in circles until she pooped out.  I even grew tomatoes for the first time in my life.  All the while, I was grateful for every aspect of having a backyard.

Universal law states that we attract to ourselves more of that for which we are grateful, right? Well, it was certainly proven in this case.  Each successive house we lived in after that little one had a more expansive and verdant backyard.  This is our third, and by far the most amazing.  It simply just occurred that the houses that were available for sale, and in our price range, happened to have an amazing backyard.  Coincidence? I don’t think so.  It is, in fact, the natural outcome of the practice of proactive gratitude.

I have also noticed a common theme on our Gratitude Experiment community on Facebook .  And that is, that many people are grateful for their friends.  And it seems the more grateful they are for them the more and more amazing friends seem to come into their lives.  This is true for every area of our lives where we find it easy to be grateful.  And the areas we find difficult to be grateful for are usually the areas that are more challenging and limited. (I will address that aspect, and how to transform that experience in a future blog.  Stay tuned.)

So now it’s your turn.  Look at the area or areas of your life where you have historically found it easy to be grateful.  Have you noticed this part of your life expanding, multiplying, or attracting more good?  

Looking forward to reading about your experience!

I was driving my kids and a friend of theirs back from the pool after it had just been closed due to an approaching electrical storm.  As we drove along, we were all looking up and marveling at the huge plumes of puffy dark clouds overhead.  That’s when we noticed that, in the middle of the storm clouds, there was a small opening of blue sky where sun was peeking out.  My daughter said, “oh look, that’s where the angels hang out!”  Now, I don’t know where she heard this, I certainly never told her this.  But it was so sweet the way she said it so matter-of-factly.  Well, it was as if the whole car lit up.  We talked about how fun it would be to fly a plane right through the opening and up above the clouds where the sun always shines…and maybe even hang out with the angels. Suddenly the disappointment of having to leave a fun swim day disappeared, and we were on to what fun thing we would do next.

It occurred to me later that noticing that little opening in the midst of temporary storm clouds, and contemplating the sun shining on the other side, was a lot like our practice of proactive gratitude.  Our lives can be full of stormy relationships, financial and employment turmoil or health concerns, but our willingness to look for that little patch of blue sky and celebrate it when we find it, can turn our whole experience around.  Relationship, financial and health difficulties are temporary experiences.  The changeless infinite good always exists on the other side of these experiences.  We can’t always see this, for the infinite good is often obscured by the clouds of human experience. 

So, what can help us get to the other side where “the angels hang out?”  You guessed it…gratitude.  Proactive gratitude helps us focus our attention on that one spot of bright light and, if we are willing to embrace that, and continue to give our focus to that, it begins to grow.  Temporary storm clouds then begin to move off and changeless good shines brighter and brighter into more and more areas of our life.

The next time you see storm clouds in the sky, let it remind you to look for the spot of clear sky…the area you can honestly be grateful for…and give it your full attention. Then watch as stormy conditions in your life begin to blow away.

In his poem from Paracelsus, Robert Browning says in no uncertain terms that pure Truth and pure beauty lie within us.  It is not something we acquire or could even lack for.  It’s inherent in our very being.

“Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate’er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,
This perfect, clear perception which is truth.
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error: and to KNOW,
Rather consists of opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.”

He also makes it clear that our physical human self does a good job of obscuring this truth and we must find a way to open up an avenue through which it can express.  We must find an opening for this truth so that we may have an expanded experience of life.

What is this “truth” Browning is talking about?  Who’s truth?  Universal truth?  We can all take something different from this poem, and please share your thoughts on this by commenting on this blog. 

For me, the truth he’s mentioning here is another word for the Divine…or the awareness of our divinity with all the divine qualities present in their fullness.  The synonyms he uses such as “light” “perfect, pure” and “splendor” are keys for my interpretation.     

So assuming this is correct, how do we open out a way whence this imprisoned splendor may escape, and realize our divinity?  He doesn’t give us a clue for that.  I think the method is different for each of us, but there are common techniques that have worked for so many of us.

Number one is meditation.   Meditation creates an opening within us with which to experience a part of ourselves that is not perceived by our five senses, or analyzed by our rational thinking.   In fact, when we close off our five senses and transcend this “baffling and perverting carnal mesh” for a time, we are, in effect, welcoming the invisible, the unformed, the spiritual. 

Another way to “open out a way” (and this should come as no surprise to readers of this blog) is by practicing proactive gratitude.  When we focus our attention on the good, the beautiful, the abundant, and the blessings in our lives, we place ourselves in alignment with truth.  We (perhaps unconsciously) unify with the good all around us and it resonates with that place within us where the divine resides.

Both of these methods awaken that “imprisoned splendor” within us.  Then, by shining this light into our world and sharing our love, we effectively release the divine into our lives and into our world.

Many of us (myself included) have some degree of difficulty leaving our work behind, letting go and allowing ourselves to have a real vacation.  I know many people who are employed, have paid vacation time available to them, and still don’t take it.  It just keeps accruing.  Then, those of us who have a business, or are self-employed in some capacity, feel that if we took time off, our business would suffer.  We fear that we’d fall too far behind and/or lose clients and customers to competitors who are out there marketing 24/7, 365 days a year.  

Even when we do manage to get away, how many of us take our computers and business cell phones with us and spend a great deal of that vacation actually working?  We just can’t seem to let it go.  Now I know for many of us, the fact is that we love our work.  It’s deeply fulfilling and at times exciting.  We don’t want to let go of something we love so much and embrace the “unknown”.

I’ve recently come to see the errors of my ways.  On a recent week-long family vacation, I took my computer and worked the first few days for at least 3 hours of the day (my husband, by the way, did as well, while our kids basically vegged in front of the TV.)  However, after a few days of adjusting to a different environment, enjoying doing different things with our kids, and absorbing the deep peace around me, I felt my vibration begin to shift.   For one, it became easier to remain in a state of gratitude, and that in itself lifted me up to a place where I could allow in the benefits of a true vacation.  I’ve outlined them below briefly.  This is by no means a complete list.  So, please feel free to add to this list, and share with us the benefits you have derived from allowing yourself to enjoy a true vacation.

1.    Seeing life from a new perspective.  You are no longer surrounded by the familiar.  Particularly if you go someplace new, it takes a while to “get your bearings.” You are forced to let things go and let life flow. This is a good thing.  Letting life take us on an adventure allows us to loosen our control, loosen our grip on how things “should” be.  We begin to take in a different perspective on our relationships, our body, our environment and perhaps even our business.  We are open to new and perhaps innovative ideas.  (And yes, you can bring along a little notebook or journal to jot down some of these new ideas.  You’ll have time to flesh them out when you get back.)

2.  Breaking up the routine.  We are all creatures of habit. How easily we slip into routine. We get comfortable being in the same house, taking the same route to work, the grocery store, or our kids’ activities.  It may be boring, but it’s familiar. We can get complacent in our relationships and our work doing things the same way.   It’s good to break that up once in a while and try something new.  You never know what wonderful new thing you can learn by breaking with routine.  You never know how expanded your life could be until you break it up and try something new.

3.    Reconnecting with your spouse, children, family, friends and/or your Self.  Whoever you choose to go on a vacation with (even if you choose to go alone) you have the opportunity of getting to know those close to you better and to appreciate them more.   Particularly within our family, we have duties, responsibilities and a busy life attending to so much that we don’t normally take the time to really “see” those around us.  On vacation we may suddenly notice how resourceful our spouse is, for example, or how creative our children are, or how beautiful we truly are.  We now have the opportunity to observe and enjoy. We also have the time to talk, clear the air and resolve issues.   This can be tricky of course, but if we resolve to approach these opportunities from a place of love we can discover a new, deeper dimension to our relationships.

4.    Healing the mind and body.  Vacations are a great time to unwind and allow yourself to slip into deep relaxation.   Our bodies serve us well. It supports us while we share our unique gifts in the world.  We’d kind of be lost without it. The better we take care of our bodies, the longer it can serve us.  Deep relaxation is a powerful healing force that improves our immune system, and acts as a healing balm in every cell and function of our body.  Make sure your vacation allows for periods of deep relaxation.

5.    Hearing another voice besides the ego.  Sometime we get so wrapped up in doing things our way.  We believe our way is right because we have done it that way for so long and it works to some degree.  On vacation, we have the opportunity of relaxing our ego and hearing other voices, other possibilities, about how things could be done.  Often these new ideas can make a quantum difference in our business and our lives.

6.    A sense of timelessness.   Vacations, particularly if you resist the temptation to book yourself every moment of the day on tours or activities (and I’d highly recommend you do resist that temptation), you can benefit from a sense of timelessness.  We get so trapped in time.  How many times a day do you check your watch,  cell phone or clock and realize you need to hurry it up or rush off to make it somewhere on time.  Is that not exhausting and stressful?  A vacation is your chance to let that go and realize there is more to life than following the dictates of the clock.  It’s amazing how long the day and evening really can be when we’re in the moment, just enjoying.  If you ever question the benefits of being in the present moment, read one of Eckhart Tolle’s books.  It’s truly life transforming.

7.    Discovering skills you never knew you had.  Who knew I could learn to windsurf at my age, and do it pretty well?  I didn’t until my daughter said she wanted to try windsurfing, and I went along for the ride.  Do you have talent you never knew you had, like rock climbing, sailing, kayaking, scuba diving or speaking a foreign language?  You’ll never know till you try. Vacations give you a perfect opportunity to do just that.  You’ll feel pretty good about yourself just for even trying, and who knows…you may discover a life-long passion.

8.    Connecting with Nature.  Particularly if your vacation includes being in nature, you have the opportunity to benefit from connection to Source.  The same life force that created you also creates and sustains trees, flowers, water and mountains. One of my favorite poems by the Indian poet Tagore, goes like this, “The same stream of life that runs through the world runs through my veins night and day and dances in rhythmic measure…It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth into numberless blades of grass, and breaks into tumultuous waves of flowers.”   How healing would it be to meditate on that for a minute while you are in nature?

9.    The opportunity to play and enjoy.  You’ve hopefully picked a vacation you will enjoy.  And, although stuff happens on a vacation and things don’t always go as you planned (sometimes a good thing!), the opportunity to play and enjoy is a prime motivating factor for going in the first place.   Playing increases our creativity.  And creativity is essential to our work and our relationships.  Joy is a similar energy to gratitude. They are both energies that enhance your immune system, improve your relationships and attract more good into every area of your life.  Allow yourself to play.  Revel in joy. Soak it in. Celebrate it!

10.    Enhancing gratitude.  Lastly, but certainly not least, vacations make it easier to practice proactive gratitude.  If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know how essential a practice of gratitude can be and how it can transform your life.  When we are out of our routine, seeing and experiencing new things, it’s so much easier to appreciate.  We can appreciate the beauty around us, the time we have to share with our friends or family, the peace we feel, a new food or a new experience.  The list can go on.   A good way to begin a practice of proactive gratitude is to jump start it on vacation, then when you get back home, visit the Gratitude Experiment site often to support what you’ve begun.

 Now it’s your turn. Share with us how a vacation has benefited you in a particular way.

A wonderful unexpected benefit to practicing proactive gratitude is that it seems to sharpen your intuition.  I’ve been delightfully surprised by this little “side effect” of my gratitude practice.   That “inner wisdom” that once seemed so difficult to distinguish from the voice of my ego, is now clear, strong and unmistakable.

Why should this be? On the surface it doesn’t seem as if the practice of gratitude has anything to do with developing intuition.  Traditional techniques for developing the intuitive voice usually have something to do with guided meditations or clearing internal blocks to receiving those messages that guide us into a more joyful and expanded life.

I think it has something to do with energy and vibration.  As they say, “everything is indeed energy.”  We know that being in a state of gratitude is a vibration.  You can feel it.  And you can sense when someone else you are around is in a state of gratitude.  It feels very different from being around someone who is angry…even if their anger is not directed at us nor has anything to do with us.  We still get a very different “vibe” from those two individuals. 

It must be that the practice of proactive gratitude (when practiced for a time) shifts our energy sufficiently into a similar vibrational frequency where intuition resides.  When we are on the same vibrational frequency, we are suddenly more sensitive to the intuitive hunches and inner guidance that were always there…we just couldn’t ”hear” it before.   Or more likely, there was just too much “noise” or mind chatter in the way.  Negative mind-chatter gets very noisy!

Being in a state of gratitude helps quite the negative chatter, lifts our vibration into the frequency where intuition lives and gives us the confidence we need to follow our intuitive guidance.

See if it isn’t true for you too. I’d love to hear about your experiences in this area as well.

Many blessings.

Statistically speaking, more heart attacks occur between 8 and 9 am on Monday morning…the beginning of the work week.   And, although Saturday is statistically the day most car accidents occur (I’ll give you one guess why) Monday is not far behind.   And, while I don’t have statistics on the day of the week more arguments with a spouse, child, co-worker or employer occur, I have heard it said that Monday is the winning day for that as well.

Why Monday?  Because most people are unhappy that it’s Monday morning.  They don’t look forward to it. They’ve been having fun all weekend and now it’s time to set the alarm, get up early, fight the traffic and begin the school or work week.  It’s also the day many resume diets and workout routines, face an overflowing inbox and “to-do” list left over from the previous week, put on the serious face and tackle situations that we’ve been avoiding.  Not exactly experiences that illicit a celebratory response.  And, the amount of resistance we have to any of it will be equal to our unhappiness.

It is our resistance to the experience that causes such disharmony. This resistance to “what is” fuels unhappiness, anger, frustration and places us way out of alignment with the flow of good into our lives.

But what if it were different? What if Monday were the day you looked forward to because you knew that the first thing you were going to experience was overflowing love and joy?  What if you stopped resisting?  What if you started the week consciously in alignment to the flow of all good? How would that change your experience of Monday?  How would that set up the rest of your week?

Let’s try this experiment together. Let’s call Monday “Gratitude Mondays.”  Let’s begin a little TGIM (Thank God It’s Monday) experiment.

How?  With these 5 simple steps.

1. We will set our intention to begin the week with a heart overflowing with gratitude.

2.  The moment we wake up on Monday morning, before getting out of bed, we will find one thing to be grateful for. Just one thing for now (this could be anything from the bird’s song outside our window to the fact that we actually woke up and get another chance at life.)

3. Then, as we get up and brush our teeth, we think of another thing to be grateful for. And we will continue thinking of something for which we are grateful with every routine Monday morning task like taking the dog for a walk, or pouring a cup of coffee, or taking a shower, or getting dressed, or making breakfast for the children or getting into the car, etc. Think how wonderful it is to have indoor plumbing, and/or nice clothes to wear, and/or a trusty companion pooch, and/or the aroma of freshly ground coffee, and/or children to raise, and/ or a radio in your car with an abundance of stations from which to choose to listen to, or a CD player that allows you to listen to some groovin’ or uplifting music.  You get the idea.  Make it a game.  How many things can you find to be grateful for?
The way to avoid thinking about what is missing in our lives, and what we don’t want is to focus on the gratitude we feel for what we do have.

4. You might notice that what begins to happen is that one gratitude thought leads to another, and to another, and so on.  Keep this going for as long as you want.

5. More importantly you want to allow yourself to really feel it.  Let the gratitude begin to open your heart, expand and fill your mind and body with the joy of being alive to experience all of these blessings and more!

6. Notice how you feel and notice how your Monday goes.

Like everything else, this will take practice. But it’s the kind of practice that’s so enjoyable and makes such a huge difference in your life, that you will look forward to it.  You may find that you want to begin your Tuesday like this, and Wednesday like this, and so on.  By all means, go right ahead.  And if there are things in your life that you desire to change, you will begin to feel empowered to make the changes harmoniously.  Why? Because you are now aligned with the Source from which all good flows.  Opportunities for positive change will present themselves, and you will be empowered to recognize the opportunities and take advantage of them.

Now, in order to experience the benefits of this practice, you need to remember to do it.  Thought habit patterns are deeply ingrained. We all need a gentle nudge to remember to think differently than is our habit until we develop a new habit pattern. For this reason, if you’d like, I will send out a gentle reminder to you about Gratitude Monday on Sunday evening.  If you  visit my gratitude page on Facebook and just hit the “Like” button, I will send out a reminder the night before.

Many blessings to you!

You know that being a positive person helps you attract and keep customers; attract and keep friends; makes you a desirable spouse and employee; and boosts your immune system, among other wonderful benefits, right?

…but how does one remain positive when we’re in a recession, thousands of people are losing their jobs and houses every day, the war appears endless and oil is gushing out into the Gulf uncontrollably destroying everything in its path?  Positive affirmations will take you only so far.

The answer is to practice Proactive Gratitude.  The techniques of Proactive Gratitude shift your energy sufficiently to rise above challenges and therefore to be in place where you can be of real help to others, as well as begin to turn the balance in your own life in the direction of attracting more joyous, expansive, loving and prosperous experiences. 

Join me in the practice of proactive gratitude. Click on the “How to Participate” tab and get started today. It’s free, it’s fun and it may transform your life!

Ready for a quick energy shifting exercise?  Click here and play along.. 10-Second Energy Shifting Gratitude Experiment