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Living In Gratitude: Resolve To Be Grateful

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Be in love with your life, every minute of it. ~Jack Keroac

Every moment of life is an adventure and the start of a new year always holds the promise of a fresh start. Many of us choose this time to ‘start over’, to make changes in our lives for the better.

For those who’ve made a New Years resolution or two, consider making a resolution to be more grateful. Nurturing one’s gratitude can provide profound and life-altering changes.

Feeling and expressing appreciation spills over into all areas of life. Read more

Living in Gratitude: 7 Ways to Make the World a Better Place

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You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person. ~Scott Scorrell

During our lifetime, each of us makes an impact on the world around us. One of the most significant impressions we can make is by doing what we can as individuals to make the world a better place.

Here are 7 ways we can have a positive influence.

1. DO NO HARM

If everyone endevored to achieve this goal, our world would be transformed. We should all do everything we can to live by this motto. Help others. Be patient. Smile more. Say thank you. Be courteous. Make eye contact. Spread kindness, love and goodwill everyday.

2. ENJOY YOUR TIME

Instead of focusing on the negative, look at what is wonderful and amazing. Sure, it’s easy to get caught up in what isn’t going our way, to complain, argue and get upset. Yet by looking for the good and being grateful for it, we can shift our outlook and enjoy what good the world has to offer. Read more

Living In Gratitude: 10 Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude

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Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have. ~Unknown

Robert Emmons, noted researcher in the psychology of gratitude, was asked what were the three key things he wanted people to know about gratitude. “First, the practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by around 25%. Second, this is not hard to achieve–a few hours writing in a gratitude journal over 3 weeks can create an effect that lasts 6 months if not more. Third, cultivating gratitude brings other health effects, such as longer and better quality sleep time.”

25% happier by practicing gratitude?  Then, a little time journaling our appreciation for long lasting effects along with better health? That’s a pretty good deal for the amount of effort.

Practicing gratitude is easy to do but can also be easy to put off. But, expressing and practicing gratitude makes a big difference in our life and the lives of others.. Get into the gratitude habit and experience the results.

What’s important is to practice on a regular basis.

Below are ten easy ways to kick it into gear and make gratitude a part of your life. Choose the ones that resonate with you and get started.

1. Put reminders (visuals) around your home. Write “Thank You” on a small river rock and before making the bed each morning, put it on your pillow. At night, as you pull back the covers, you’ll see this little rock and remember things during the day for which you are grateful. A warm comfortable bed is one of them. Posters, framed cards, or sticky notes placed in special places provide wonderful reminders. Read more

Living In Gratitude: 6 Ways To Celebrate World Gratitude Day

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When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you takes things for granted or take them with gratitude. ~G.K. Chesterson

History of World Gratitude Day

The idea for an annual day of gratitude began in 1965 in Hawaii during an international Thanksgiving dinner and it has been celebrated on September 21st for the last 51 years.

Held at the East-West Center, the dinner was hosted by mediation guru, Sri Chinmoy, director of the United Nations Meditation Group. He suggested the idea as a globally unifying holiday and each person in attendance vowed to hold a gratitude gathering every September 21st in their own country.  The United Nations Meditation Group formally celebrated World Gratitude Day on September 21, 1977 at the New York Headquarters where Sri Chinmoy was honored for his work.  Since its beginnings, World Gratitude Day has been observed in numerous countries around the globe.

There has been an increasing awareness of the benefits of gratitude, appreciation and positive reflection.  World Gratitude Day is a reminder and an opportunity to reflect on all of the blessings we have in life. Expressing gratitude has been proven in numerous scientific studies to positively impact our well-being, making us happier, healthier, more social and overall more appreciative people.

World Gratitude Day 2016 is Wednesday, September 21st.

Here are six ways you can participate and contribute in this global expression of gratitude.

1. Be Courteous and Kind

Smile and say hello to people as you walk down the street or through a store or restaurant. Allow people on the roads and freeways to merge, invite that person behind you with one item to go ahead of you at the checkout counter. Read more

Living In Gratitude: Resilience

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I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. ~Carl Gustav Jung

Resilience is our capacity for stress-related growth, to recover quickly from difficulties.

There are two distinct aspects to resilience:

  • Durability or hardiness, which is 0ur ability to manage daily stressors and hassles successfully
  • Bouncing Back, our capacity to effectively recover and grow from major life adversities like death or divorce

We can build and reinforce our resilience muscles by focusing on three key things.

  1. THINK DIFFERENTLY

By recognizing and understanding how we think about adversity, stress and challenging scenarios, we can alter how we think about them and as such, how we react to them. Our thinking runs along a sliding scale from optimism to pessimism.

People who have a more pessimistic way of thinking tend to impart personalization, permanence and pervasiveness on stressful situations. They tell themselves:

“This problem will be around forever. It will affect my entire life and its all my fault.”

Consistent pessimistic thinking increases our likelihood of depression, anxiety, hopelessness and helplessness. Read more

Live An Inspired Life

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Achieving true happiness is a personal, everyday process that comes from inside each of us.

Happiness isn’t something we can buy or that someone gives us. Like everything worth having, happiness is something that takes focused effort.

Your attitude makes the difference!

Our attitude and how we react to the world, the people in our lives and the challenges we face either lift us up or bring us down. We always have a choice. By striving for an optimistic outlook and focusing on the good, we allow happiness to take root.

Take charge of your personal happiness!

Embark on an adventure of appreciation with our 30-Day E-Course. Receive $7 off through July 30, 2016 when you use promotional code GETHAPPY.

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