With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. ... Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. So how do you express your gratitude? Do you journal about it? Share with someone else? Just walk outside and see creation? Marvel at a ladybug in the garden? Appreciate a flower garden? Gratitude can improve your health. It helps you to appreciate what you have instead of what you don't have? I have major mobility issues due to surgeries on both feet. I can't be as active as I used to be, I'm unable to play tennis anymore, BUT I still have both of my feet when at least one should have been amputated a while back. Am I grateful? You're damn right I am!
GRATITUDE IS WHAT HELPS ME TO STAY SOBER! I went to a 3-day seminar put on by Brendon Burchard-I recommend looking him up!- on the first day, he had us think and list our top 3 core values. My first one was, is and always will be: GRATITUDE! Why gratitude? It reminds me that there is something greater, bigger, more powerful than me in the universe and that's my HIGHER POWER. I don't have to be Ego-Driven. I ain't the "end all, be all!"
Here is part of an article from Huffington Post by Fani Stipkovic. Here are her 5 techniques for letting go of your ego and enjoy life.
1. Practice forgiveness & letting go.
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” — Mahatma Gandhi The most powerful tool to learn to let go of our egos to make life easier is to practice forgiveness. We have to learn to forgive the people who hurt us and most importantly we have to learn to forgive ourselves.
Accept, let go and keep moving forward. Forgiveness will open the windows to your soul, and remove the negativity to allow room for new happiness.
2. Practice honesty and being open
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” — Will Smith
The most important sentence I’ve ever heard, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too, “The truth will set you free.” Suppressing our emotions can develop depression and anxiety. Always seek the truth.
Honesty provides us unconditional freedom to be connected with ourselves instead of trying to be something that we’re not.
Learn to say no to the things that don’t add value in you’re life, and open your arms and run towards the things that do.
3. Surrender your need for control.
We are not our egos, we are not our jobs, we are not our material possessions, and we are not our achievements. Once you let your ego control your life, you will never be happy or relaxed because as soon as you lose one of the things that you identify with, the rest will fall like dominos and you will lose your happiness.
Break the fears and trust life! Don’t be scare to love. Take risks. Be curious. Explore. Do what makes you happy. Try to do every day something that scares you and you’ll start to feel happiness in the small things.
4. Enjoy silent moments with yourself.
Create an everyday routine to remind yourself why it’s beautiful to be you. To know that you are enough.
Everyday perform a selfless act of love and enjoy giving without the expectation to receive.
Take 5 minutes every day to be with yourself in silence, because sometimes in silence you can find the answers that the voices never can.
5. Practice gratitude.
“It’s not happy people who are thankful; it’s thankful people who are happy.” — Unknown
Take 5 minutes every day to think about all the people, experiences, lessons, and mistakes you are thankful for.
Grateful people feel more love and compassion and feel more alive than those who don’t.
Appreciate everything and everyone and you’ll discover true beauty in your life.
Learning to let go of your ego is very easy in theory, however can be very difficult to execute in the moment. When I think about times that I’ve been frustrated I always recognize a single thought that resonates in my head, “Drop your ego! You have nothing to lose here, but a whole life to win.”
DID YOU NOTICE NUMBER 5????
PRACTICE GRATITUDE!
until next time....