Gratitude

One thing I have found that works incredibly well for me, and that is to find at least 5 things a day that I'm grateful for. At the end of each day, I sit and reflect on the day that was and write down the things I'm feeling grateful for.

Now this can be simple things, like watching the horses play around in the paddock, a conversation with my partner, a meal that was prepared for me. Occaisionally there are those BIG moments in life, however I find these are not the common daily occurance. The important thing for me is to spend some time appreciating, rather than going over the annoying things, the unfinished things, the regretful things...if where I put my focus creates what's next, then I'd rather be in an appreciative frame of mind!

What I also find with this exercise is after a short space of time, I find so many other things to be grateful for. Before I know it, I have my focus locked on gratitude throughout the day and when I feel one of those negative suckers creeping in, I find it easier to switch to the positive, rather than dwell on the negative. Even a smile is enough to lift me out of the negativity, (usually I'm having a laugh to myself about how I go off on a tangent about nothing).

When I first started doing this, I would struggle with finding things to be appreciative about. I'd the first 2 or 3 down then hit a blank. Then I remembered what I'd been told about this, and that was it's ok to repeat things daily...there are some people/things in your life that are important and it's more than ok the appreciate them regularly!

So give it a go and see what you can create with your marvellous mind!