Gratitude Archives - Page 66 of 67

Start Your Day In A Positive Way

Posted on May 17, 2020

Every word, thought or situation can send you down a different track so start your day in a positive way. You may as well choose a good track to start on.

When you wake up, you could smile. Then remember to be grateful for being allowed to play the game for another day.

You could get out of bed, and seize the day – carpe diem style.

Take six minutes to go through the six minute miracle morning. This will help start your day in a positive way.

You could also try to be the most positive and enthusiastic person you know for the rest of the day. What would that look like? Try it. You might enjoy it. It is a good personal challenge to try to develop a few days a week.

If a word, thought or situation triggers you and starts to send you down a less positive detour, recognise it and restart from there.

One way to keep a cheery disposition, and save yourself some precious time every day, is to not read, watch or listen to any news stories. They are the best negative programming if you want to be less happy rapidly.

Try swapping news (radio, tv, paper, online, etc) for something positive like an inspiring podcast, an uplifting book, or some motivating YouTube videos.

Try one or all of these ideas above at least once. You never know what might set you on a different, more positive path.

Gratitude

Events That Bring People Together

Posted on May 9, 2020

The 8th May, 2020, was the 75th anniversary of VE Day. This is one of those events that bring people together. The Victory in Europe 75 years ago was, as I understand it, a giant relief for all.

The end of the hostilities in Europe brought people together to celebrate an historic moment. Once again, 75 years later, it brought people out in their front gardens or on their front door steps to be together as a jubilant community.

Our street was amazing. Such a social, supportive and talented bunch. Bunting and songs and music along with birthdays and cake and wonderful good-naturedness. All while being socially distant yet socially close and together in spirit.

It’s lovely to celebrate with others. This can be live or virtual. Events that bring people together will always be special times to remember. Get involved with them and enjoy them while they are there and while you can.

Children remember these special events for a long time. Many will remember it for the rest of their lives. Those ten year olds will be 35 at the 100th anniversary. Hopefully people will still be as enthusiastic about the celebration then.

I think there will be one very significant party when the social distancing is no longer required. That will be one wonderful party!

Action Gratitude

Write Down Your Favourite Moments

Posted on May 4, 2020

It’s a great thing to do. To write down your favourite moments in a list, such as a top 10 favourite life moments, is very powerful. Adding some ooomph to that is reading it when you wake up in the morning and when you go to bed at night.

I write a lot of stuff down. I have lists of ideas, words, to do’s, notes from calls etc. When did you last write down your favourite moments? I’ve done them before and done an updated one recently.

It’s a great way to remind yourself of amazing or wonderful moments in your life. It’s a great pick me up to read that list in the morning. Similarly it is a lovely way to re-frame your thinking as you are about to doze off to sleep and your brain goes on auto-pilot. It’s a good idea to give it something brilliant about you to ruminate on for 6-8 hours.

Amazingly, you can quickly become your own powerful content creator. You can start, or continue, to be a powerful, positive driving force in your mind and your life. You have the power to do it. Take control of how you start and end the day.

Running the highlight reel, twice a day, is a great way to get a smile on your face and keep your enthusiasm up.

Action Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Waste Not, Want Not

Posted on April 17, 2020

I eat what is on my plate, so I don’t take more than I’ll comfortably eat. Waste not, want not is a phrase that I reflect on frequently. I really don’t like to waste resources, whether it’s food, financial, energy or products.

Having grown up on a farm, I am clear how much energy and resource is used to create milk and then get it to your fridge. The amount of tractor fuel required to cut, rake, bale and transport hay to a barn for storage is significant. There is also an amount of energy consumed in running a barn, such as lights, milkers and gutter cleaner.

We would then have a milk truck collect the milk and bring it to the factory. Here it would be processed and packaged and shipped to a store near you. You can then simply pick the milk off the shelf, take it home and pop it in the fridge.

I have seen people then drink some but not all of it. If it then sits out and gets a bit warm, some people will throw it down the sink. I find that tragic, as I know how much has gone into getting that milk there in the first place. It seems like a complete waste of our earth’s resources. I would rather drink it, chill it in the fridge again before consuming it or use it some other way.

I think like this for all resources. Whether it is using all the toothpaste in a tube or all the ink in a pen, it makes good environmental sense.

Waste not, want not, is a proverbial saying that was first noted in 1772.

Perhaps these unusual times will encourage us to be more appreciative of each resource we have and use it more efficiently.

Action Gratitude Progress Think About It

Can’t Wait To Celebrate

Posted on April 15, 2020

Are you someone who can’t wait to celebrate when you get good news, big or small? It’s a great way to live. Celebrate every little success and every big one too. Don’t just wait for the big moments though. Sometimes they never come, or they don’t come soon enough and you’re not around for the party.

You can celebrate with a smile, fist pump, high five (with your family or when wearing gloves), fancy dance, arms over head, music, a favourite food, drink or person or whatever you fancy. Just be sure to acknowledge the good news or success. It’s a great feedback loop.

Celebrating successes, large and small, yours and others, builds confidence and brings joy to your soul. You’ll walk taller and feel more powerful. And it can be sooo easy to do. Try it.

Don’t wait to celebrate. There is not just one big finish line. Be delighted with your every step forward. It’s practically a miracle you are making any progress at all. Have you ever stopped to think about how many little tiny things have to go absolutely, stupendously well just for you to get out of bed, eat, digest and physically move your body to your work place?

Maybe this lockdown era will help us all appreciate all the little conveniences, daily miracles, and successes a little more. Remember, you don’t know what you have, until its gone. Ask anyone who is finding lockdown difficult or has recently had an accident and found their body parts not working so well.

Decide from today that you can’t wait to celebrate. Train your brain, from today, to find at least three reasons to celebrate every day. Maybe you’ll get up to 10 times a day by the end of the year. You’ll feel better for it. And so will everyone around you.

Action Gratitude

Success And Happiness

Posted on April 14, 2020

These two words create such excitement, expectation and desire, as well as so much stress and disappointment. Success and happiness are often confused or thought of as one and the same, but they are not.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Decide what you want and go get it. However, once you do, you really should enjoy that success for a little while before you go out again. Let it bring you joy. Let yourself be happy. Give yourself permission.

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln

Even in these unusual and often challenging times, try smiling more. You can make a world of difference to someone by just smiling. You’ll also find that it will help to bring you more success and happiness. Win win.

Gratitude Time

Enjoying The Day

Posted on April 12, 2020

It’s easy to zip through a day and not really even notice it. We can all probably remember just going through the motions. Enjoying the day, however, that is a real skill. Being present and savouring the moments is critical. Remember to stop and smell those roses.

Today really was one of those days. Being present with my wife and children, for the whole day, was wonderful. Playing a family game of Ticket to Ride was good fun. Listening to the laughter from the kids upstairs, playing chase, was a delight. Watching the wet sponge battle in the garden, and then the funny water bucket challenge, was pure joy.

There were so many moments that had me smiling all day. With a temperature of 25C, clear skies and sunshine galore, it was a fabulous day.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter. I know not everyone will have, and our thoughts were with them throughout the day.

If you found yourself enjoying the day, I hope you are as grateful as I am for finding the joy in it.

Gratitude Health & Fitness

Sunshine Is Awesome

Posted on April 10, 2020

Oh my, having such a long streak of sunshine is awesome! 23C in London today. Bright sunny skies. 49% humidity. The last couple of weeks have been lovely, weather-wise. Today was a fabulous day for a long, solo run through Richmond Park.

Just me and The Real Estate Guys and that awesome sunshine. The two police at the gate into Richmond Park was a nice touch to ensure we keep our physical distancing. It would have been quite warm for them, so I felt for them. But I suppose it may have been better than a chilly downpour.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you get some sunshine this Easter weekend. It does feel so nice on the face. It warms you up, cheers you up and can help lift your mood. Take some time to close your eyes and face toward the sunshine, even if it is for only 30 seconds. It certainly can be a life changing moment – in your mind, if nothing else.

That one action of turning toward the sun, (eyes closed!) could change your world.

Enjoy some awesome sunshine! ☀️

Gratitude Think About It

What You Say Reflects You

Posted on April 6, 2020

We all think that our spoken words describe something or someone else. However, what you say reflects you. What you communicate will usually tell us more about your current state of mind, values and critical thinking, than it will about your subject.

I have raised a similar thought previously in another post entitled, ‘Is fire good or bad?’. Putting that aside, what really brings this point home is what people are saying online and on Twitter about our now ICU’d Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

Leadership examples:

It is fabulous to see people like Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband saying good, hopeful and helpful things at this difficult time. They could have said something political. They could have criticised his policies or judgement in handling the matter. Or they could have said nothing at all. They did not, however, and they chose to send appropriate messages of well wishing.

Meanwhile, there were people who did not send their good wishes for a speedy recovery. They did not stay quiet, nor did they offer their thoughts or prayers to him or his family. You will have to look the comments up yourself, if you want to spend your time that way.

When I see such negative and inappropriate things written, or hear them spoken, I ask myself the following: What is the worst thing that he, personally, directly and intentionally did, specifically to harm you, without any greater consideration or benefit to a wider group?

Consider intent:

It is always best to first consider the other person’s intent. What is the most important thing for them? What were they trying to achieve as the very highest priority for them? When doing this, try to remove your biases and instinctual thoughts and try to get in their shoes and understand their motivation and highest intent. It’s not easy but frequent practice will help.

I believe Mr Johnson’s overriding intent, during this pandemic, has been good. It seems clear to me that he wants to save lives, protect the NHS and support people and businesses adversely affected by the situation. This is a big and broad summary of intent. It won’t be perfect. Nothing ever is.

So the next time you choose to express yourself, take a pause first. What you say reflects you, and it’s quite revealing.

Action Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Feeling Low – Where Do You Go?

Posted on April 2, 2020

What are the best resources for resilience? When you are feeling low – where do you go? To whom or to what do you turn to? There are some great resources out there to help pick you up, re-energise and re-focus.

Certainty of outcome:
Right now, we are in such a unique moment in time. It feels like the whole planet is on the same page, or at least reading the same book. Sometimes, as with a riveting book, I’d love to sneak a peak at the last few pages. Seeing how this plays out, and when, would provide everyone with some certainty. It would probably give a lot of people a level of comfort and let them relax into it a little more.

However, just like every book or movie, we won’t know how it ends until we get there. We need to live through the twists and turns with resilience knowing there is an end and it will be fine.

Perspective:
Looking back four months ago, you may not have realised how amazing your life was then. As I wrote recently, we often don’t know what we’ve got til it’s gone. This is probably one of those moments for a large portion of the population in so many countries already.

Feeling low – Where do you go?:
To re-energise or re-frame things, some of the best tips I have, that work for me are: Going for a run, writing something positive in a journal, listening to a favourite couple of songs rather loudly and singing along, or writing what’s on my mind to ‘get it out’.

A great book to read, and write in like a workbook, is Dale Carnegie’s classic, ‘How to stop worrying and start living’. It’s got some incredible stories in it and great lessons and tactics to use too.

There are also some amazing resources online. These are based in the UK, but please add any from your country or others you think would help. Free therapy or counselling through the NHS. Info for Children and young people.

Helping Others:
If you can spare a minute, please answer the question, ‘Feeling low – where do you go?’. Click on the title of this post and scroll to the bottom of the page and leave your best tips in the comments.

With readers from across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and dozens of other countries, maybe we could get a little compendium of top tips listed. It could help people, from around the world, to better deal with the new normal.

Knowing that you may may have helped someone get through their day will pick you up too, and hopefully leave you smiling.