The Beauty of Living a Grateful Life by Melissa McCreery PhD,ACC

Are you looking for more ease in your life? Do you wish things flowed better? I don’t have a magic solution for you, but I do know a simple tool that, when leveraged, makes life smoother and more pleasant—and it’s free and at your fingertips. How about serving up a bit more gratitude?

We all know that gratitude is a good thing. By gratitude, I’m talking about that deep peaceful sense of appreciation and thankfulness we feel for certain realities and people in our lives. Liberally and authentically applied, gratitude has the ability to work wonders. We don’t just give thanks and gratitude. Our ability to connect with our sense of gratitude has the power to profoundly affect who and how we are in the world.

Here are three ways that gratitude can make your life flow better:


Create more happiness: Taking time out to identify and name the things and people that we are grateful for on a regular basis increases our feelings of well-being and contentment. The simple act of noting three things we are thankful for on a daily basis has been shown to increase feelings of happiness, decrease feelings of depression, and be such a positive experience that subjects in one study continued doing it long after the study was over.

Create more positive relationships: We all love to be appreciated. Expressing our gratitude obviously creates good will—and increases the odds that we’ll see more of the qualities we expressed appreciation for. Expressing genuine gratitude is a way (albeit after the fact) of expressing what we want and need. When we let someone know that we are truly thankful for something they say or do or convey, we are also letting them know something about how they can and do help and support us—and they’ll know that going forward. Expressing gratitude to another is also a mood enhancer. It’s not only kind, it makes us feel good to express gratitude.

Create a mindshift: We tend to see what we are focused on and miss the things we aren’t looking for. Let’s face it. When we are too busy or too stressed, we often get focused on the “un-done,” “the not-working” and the negative aspects of our life. It’s an unpleasant, energy-depleting cycle. We don’t tend to see what we’ve crossed off our to-do list as clearly as we see the things we didn’t get to. Increasing the focus on gratitude shifts our focus. When we start to look more closely for the things that we appreciate, we start to notice more of them. Looking for, noticing, and expressing thankfulness can create a mindshift which leads to an increasingly positive feedback loop of identifying and creating more gratifying experiences.


Here’s a tip about gratitude—leverage it. As you identify what you are thankful for, don’t simply acknowledge it. Find ways to lean into your gratitude. Are you spending enough time with the people who you really truly feel grateful for having in your life? Do you share your appreciation? Are you savoring the things or the qualities of your life that fill you up and leave you thankful? Are you allowing yourself to thoroughly soak up the experiences that make up your “things I am grateful for” list each day? Allowing yourself to be present with your gratitude is one of the most inspiring gifts you can give yourself.

Handling Change

Change: We can actually choose to embrace it; or completely resist it!

We are at a time in our lives when there is much change occurring; and we are more frequently being faced with choices! We often don't see them
as choices; but that's what they are!

We are being given a multitude of opportunities to actually embrace change; or to resist it! This applies equally in our business and personal lives.

Sometimes the necessity for change just happens, and sometimes it is forced upon us quite unexpectedly!

Either way, we are often faced with tough decisions to make and our attitude towards our circumstance s are critical to whether we just survive, or come out thriving!

At other times we need to investigate the change ourselves: and its times
like these that we often have to admit to ourselves that something, or
someone, just isn't working in our lives any more. You might be feeling
like you're in one of those ruts which creep into our lives from time
to time? If you are, remember that a rut is really a grave with the
ends kicked out of it, and it is time to do something, perhaps!

Sure, we have very challenging choices to make when this sort of stuff occurs
in our lives; but we need to make those choices; act upon them; and
move on as wiser people.

Whether you are faced with change that creeps up and bites you on the butt; or whether you have to create a change for your own sake; the ability to accept things as they are, and move forward, is critical. One door closes; another one opens!

Do your best to remember this paradox of life: We can often stare for so long at the door which has closed; that we can miss a new one which has opened!

It is actually very easy to resist change; but keep in mind that resisting
change is actually hard work! Quite often, we don't even know that we
are resisting it; so like most other things in life, it's about being
aware!

Right now, change is being forced upon us in many ways; and for some of us, that could possibly be overwhelming. My suggestion for anyone who is feeling the pinch, is to remember that, necessity is the mother of invention so if you can get yourself into embracing the change which is forcing itself upon you, and get creative, then you may come out of your own situation absolutely shining!

Yes folks, our attitude towards change, does make all the difference!

We can choose to Embrace it ... or Resist it!

Remember: None of us have to do it tough on our own ... ever!
Because: doing it tough on our own ... is also a choice!

Phil Evans
Phil Evans is a Motivator, Business Coach and Inspirational Writer based in Australia.

EVEN EAGLES NEED A PUSH

Tips To Help You Be Strong and Be Healthy!

• Pray or have a spiritual connection each day
• Take a walk, exercise and try to get some fresh air each day
• Say thank you for all of your blessings
• Smile and laugh at least 20 times a day
• Have a positive attitude
• Give someone a hug
• Stop stressing – the stay younger secret
• Take time to play
• Think of someone before you think of yourself
• Take time with your family

I Do It Right! - Remember these 10 Keys to Success

• Integrity: Means always be honest. Know your principles and stand by them.
• Determination: Make up your mind to be successful. Resolve to let nothing stand in your way.
• Openness: To people, ideas and situations broadens our options and widens our perspective.
• Initiative: Means to act independently when necessary. Make a plan, and then begin to work on it. No plan is perfect, so do not wait until yours is before you begin to act.
• Resilience: Picks you up when a setback knocks you down. Recommit to your vision of success. Reaffirm your confidence in yourself. Then move on toward your goal.
• Imagination: Allows us to see the future. Develop and maintain the perspective of a child. Wonder why not and what if. Many successes come from seeing an old idea in a new way.
• Gratitude: Is an active way to thank others. Pass on to others the same help and prosperity you have received.
• Humility: Recognizes that success is usually the result of the effort and cooperation of many people. It is seldom the product of solitary actions.
• Think of others first: All of us serve others in some capacity. Use your abilities fully to help others benefit from their contact with you.

Read these 10 keys until you have them memorized and you can recall them simply by remembering “I do it right.” If you review these keys a few times a day they will help you remember what you have done so far that day. This should keep you focus regarding the path to follow that leads to your success.

"Thinking for a Change"
by John C. Maxwell

"You can find many big-picture thinkers who
aren't leaders, but you will find few leaders who are
not big-picture thinkers. Leaders must be able to do
many important things for their people:

1. See the Vision Before Their people.
That's one of the reasons they are able to lead.
Leaders not only see the big picture before others
do, they also see more of it. This allows them to...
2. Size up situations, taking into account many
variables.
Leaders who see the big picture discern possible
possibilities as well as problems. As Max De
Pree says, the first responsibility of a leader is to
define reality. Doing that allows the leader to form
a foundation to build the vision. Once leaders
have done that, they can ..
3. Sketch a picture of where the team is going.
Too often when people present the big picture, it is
drawn up as a bright image without any challenges
or obstacles. That false portrait leads only to
discouragement when followers actually take the
journey.
The goals of leaders shouldn't be merely to make
their people feel good, but to help them be good
and accomplish the dream. The vision, shown
accurately, will allow leaders to. . .
4. Seize the moment when the timing is right. In
leadership, when to move is as important as what you
do. As Winston Churchill said, "There comes a special
moment in everyone's life, a moment for which that
person was born. When he seizes it . . . it is his
finest hour."
"People who are constantly looking at the whole
picture have the best chance of succeeding in any
endeavor." John Maxwell
This incredible book teaches not what to think,
but how to think - how to best use one of your most
precious possessions - your mind. He's considered
one of the foremost experts on leadership and has
written many books on the subject of leadership.
In this book he explores the topics such as
Focused Thinking, Creative Thinking, Strategic
Thinking and Possibility Thinking.

Life is Like a Cup of Coffee - Inspirational

Acres of Diamonds

One of the most interesting Americans who lived in the 19th century was a man by the name of Russell Herman Conwell. He was born in 1843 and lived until 1925. He was a lawyer for about
fifteen years until he became a clergyman.

One day, a young man went to him and told him he wanted a college education but couldn't swing it financially. Dr. Conwell decided, at that moment, what his aim in life was, besides
being a man of the cloth - that is. He decided to build a university
for unfortunate, but deserving, students. He did have a challenge
however. He would need a few million dollars to build the university.
For Dr. Conwell, and anyone with real purpose in life, nothing could
stand in the way of his goal.

Several years before this incident, Dr. Conwell was tremendously intrigued by a true story - with its ageless moral. The story was about a farmer who lived in Africa and through a visitor
became tremendously excited about looking for diamonds. Diamonds were
already discovered in abundance on the African continent and this
farmer got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of
diamonds that he sold his farm to head out to the diamond line. He
wandered all over the continent, as the years slipped by, constantly
searching for diamonds, wealth, which he never found. Eventually he
went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and in viewing the
rock practically went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner
of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was about the
biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new owner of the farm
said, "Heck, the whole farm is covered with them" - and sure enough it
was.

The farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine...the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on "Acres of Diamonds" until he sold his farm.

Dr. Conwell learned from the story of the farmer and continued to teach it's moral. Each of us is right in the middle of our own "Acre of Diamonds", if only we would realize it and develop the
ground we are standing on before charging off in search of greener
pastures. Dr. Conwell told this story many times and attracted enormous
audiences. He told the story long enough to have raised the money to
start the college for underprivileged deserving students. In fact, he
raised nearly six million dollars and the university he founded, Temple
University in Philadelphia, has at least ten degree-granting colleges
and six other schools.

When Doctor Russell H. Conwell talked about each of us being right on our own "Acre of Diamonds", he meant it. This story does not get old...it will be true forever.

Opportunity does not just come along - it is there all the time - we just have to see it.

Earl Nightingale
1921-1989, From Our Changing World Radio Transcript
Author of The Strangest Secret