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Tips for creating a life you love from life coach Pamela Bruner.
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Thanksgiving - Why Have Gratitude?
During this month when many folks in the US turn their attention to
giving thanks, it's a great time to look at gratitude - at how to
cultivate it, and why it's important. First, let's look at all the
reasons you may want to expand the feelings of gratitude in your life.
Reason 1:
Gratitude feels good - it's an emotion akin to joy, and love. When
we feel grateful, we feel good. Our bodies are filled with
endorphin-like chemicals, and our minds are open and receptive. It's
fun to feel grateful! Try this, right now - think of something that
happened today or yesterday that you are grateful for. It could be
something like the beautiful weather, or a good book that you are
reading, or the lunch that you enjoyed, or the nice person in the
checkout line... Focus on that thing or event or person for a minute
or two. Feel gratitude that this came into your life, and
concentrate on that good feeling. Now pick something else, and focus
again. Do this for five or ten minutes, and see what happens to your
mood. (If you're one of those people that believes that if someone
does something nice for you, you have to do something for them right
away, you may think that you don't want to feel grateful. I would
say that what you don't want is to feel obligated, which is not at
all the same thing as grateful. Hang in there, and keep reading.)
Reason 2:
When we focus on feeling grateful, we become more and more aware of
good things in our lives to feel grateful about. The things that we
take for granted begin to take on more significance, and we notice
good things that would have otherwise passed us by. One great way to
experience this is to keep a gratitude journal. Each evening before
bed, write down at least ten things that you are grateful for that
day. Some days you may be hunting for things, and some days you'll
keep going to fifteen or twenty. Just the experience of knowing that
you will be writing in the evening will help you focus during the day
on the good things in your life. You begin to look for things that
will give you entries in your journal - and you will find them! (I
think that this is especially fun with a pretty, hand-bound blank
book, but you can write it in any way you choose.)
Reason 3:
Gratitude is a step towards bringing good things that we desire into
our lives - it's not just for things that have already shown up, it's
for things that we want to create. People who actively create their
reality, who manifest their desires, know that gratitude is one of
the keys to this process. It works like this: I think about what I
would like, then I express and feel gratitude for it, as though it
had already shown up. This feeling of gratitude is an integral part
of manifesting my desires into reality. (If you're asking 'How can I
feel gratitude for something I don't have? - I would say in
response 'How can you expect to have anything if you can't imagine
(and feel) what it will be like to have it? So imagine that you have
it, and feel the feeling that you will have when that thing is yours
- gratitude, enjoyment, etc.) This works!
In looking at why you may want to expand gratitude in your life,
we've already touched on a couple of 'hows' - bringing good things to
mind and focusing on them, keeping a gratitude journal, and feeling
gratitude as a step in creating our reality. Another suggestion is
to look at whether we can substitute gratitude for another emotional
response that's not as much fun. For example:
My mother packed a couple of boxes of CDs for me to take to a concert
last week. When I arrived, I noticed that one of my CDs was missing
- one that I knew would sell well at this particular concert. I
called her, and asked her if she would mind making the 45-minute
drive to bring me the missing CDs. She graciously agreed. I was
tempted to go into guilt and remorse about this - 'I hate to ask her
to do this' 'I feel guilty asking her to make this drive', etc.
However, I decided to choose to feel grateful that she would do this
- I focused on gratitude, and let my heart swell with thanks for her
help and graciousness. When she arrived, instead of wincing and
feeling guilty, I was in a great place emotionally to thank her - I
felt wonderful about what she had done. And as a result, she felt
fully acknowledged, and was able to enjoy my gratitude. We both
benefited from that choice.
So your gratitude serves you well, and it also serves the world - the
people to whom you feel grateful. Even if you're feeling grateful in
general, say for a beautiful day, your emotional state benefits you,
and in so doing will benefit the world.
I won't tell you that you 'should' feel grateful - that's just
putting obligation and effort into it. But I will invite you to join
me here, in gratitude - because it feels good for your, it improves
your life by bringing in what you desire and giving you awareness of
it, and it serves the world!
A Note about Workshops
I'm getting some inquires from people in various parts of the country
about giving workshops. If you're interested in having a workshop in
your area, please drop me an email. Knowing how many are interested
in a given area will make it happen faster!
Movie suggestion of the month:
'Take the Lead' with Antonio Banderas - this is based on the true
story of a ballroom dance instructor who brought dance to public
schools in New York City. A great movie with heart, inspiration,
and great moves!
Pamela Bruner, Certified Life Coach, EFT-ADV
Creating Powerfully
Phone: 888-736-0620
www.CreatingPowerfully.com
Pamela@CreatingPowerfully.com
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