Monthly Archives: June 2010

Gratitude and Intuition

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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.

Gratitude Mondays

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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!

The Challenge of Being Positive

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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

The 5-Minute Gratitude Exercise That Will Change Your Life

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We divine beings having a human experience very often find ourselves in the very human experience of relationship problems that consume us, work problems that consume us, health issues the concern us, financial troubles that consume us, or just day-to-day frustrations that grab and hold our attention.  Different problems…but what do they all have in common? Being consumed by them…having our attention held by them.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that the practice of gratitude will cure all your problems (of course, I’m not saying it won’t either) but the one thing that the practice of proactive gratitude will do is lessen the hold these problems have on your ability to enjoy your life, and at the same time it will create new and more harmonious experiences.

And you can do it right now…this very minute…and at any moment. You can begin with this exercise I will share here which will immediately change your experience and, if practiced consistently, will change the direction of your life.

Ready?  Here we go.

       1.  Think for just a minute about that issue that has consumed your attention.

       2.  Note how you are feeling now.

       3.  Quick, think of something around that issue that you are grateful for. Some examples might be:

  • – If I’m having difficulties with my spouse I can, right now, be grateful for my best friend that I can call and talk to who will be there compassionately for me. Or, I can think of something I really love and appreciate about my spouse.
  • – If I’m battling an illness, I can be grateful that maybe they caught it early, or I am under really good care, or I have an opportunity to re-examine my diet, or if I’ve been unconsciously holding resentment or unforgiveness, to let that go.
  • – If I’m having difficulty paying my bills and am consumed with worry about where the money is going to come from, I can be thankful that I have a job, or that I have the opportunity to refinance, or there are payment option programs available to me, or that I have an abundance of love and support in my life.

These are just examples to get you going. Whatever might be true for you that you can honestly be grateful for around this issue, bring it to mind right now.  There’s always something to be grateful for in a difficult situation. Some may require more searching than others.

           4.  Close your eyes and really focus on that thing you are grateful for. This thought usually attracts other thoughts like it. Let your mind welcome other things for which you are grateful in other areas of your life as well.

          5. Now imagine that there is a volume knob that is connected to that gratitude.  A knob like on a car radio (a physical knob, not the digital kind) and watch your hand reach out and turn up the volume on that gratitude.  Turn it up to a point where it is comfortable, but stretches you a little bit.  You are literally turning up the volume on the feeling of gratitude, and what is right with your life.

           6. Now allow that feeling to bubble up inside of you like champagne bubbles bubbling to the surface and on the count of thee you are going to raise you arms to the sky and shout out a giant “Woo-hoo.”  Ready?  One, Two, Three…Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!

          7.  Now notice how you feel. 

Whenever you notice that you are getting sucked down into the “woe-is-me” syndrome, or consumed by your problems, do this exercise.  I dare you to do it and not feel transformed.

As always, let me know how it goes for you.  Reply under the comment section of this blog entry.

Many blessings. I am grateful for you!