Gratitude Diary

A gratitude diary can change your whole life, and it only takes a couple of minutes each day. I show you how to do it, what to expect, and what scientific research is being done.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Identify Your Negative Beliefs

I just found a great book that will help you identify and understand your negative beliefs – those beliefs that are stopping you from getting what you want.

It’s called Prisoners of Belief: Exposing & Changing Beliefs That Control Your Life by Matthew McKay and Patrick Fanning.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Some Gratitude Quotes

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. –Buddha

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy -Albert Clarke

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content -Helen Keller

Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practise gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything. -Alan Cohen

Attitude is more important than the past, than eductaion, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important tyhan appearance, giftedness, or skill. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regardingthe attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude -Charles Swindoll

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. -Buddha

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The Power of Our Language

There are 2 sides to every coin, so they say, and this works for gratitude too. For every negative in your life, find a positive to replace it. Now this won’t always be easy, but it can be done. You can be as conservative or extreme as you like. Remember like attracts like, so think and talk positive, and you'll get positive back. This is also known as The Grateful Game!

Here are a few examples to get you started … How many can you think of?

Negative : The taxes on my paycheck are ridiculous!
Positive : I am grateful I have a job.


Negative : I hate cleaning my house.
Positive : I am grateful I have a home.


Negative : My clothes are too tight!
Positive : I am grateful I have enough food to eat.


Negative : I had to park at the far end of the parking lot!
Positive : I am grateful I can walk and own a vehicle.


Negative L: My heating bill is huge!
Positive : I am grateful I am warm in the winter.


Negative : I am tired and my muscles ache!
Positive : I am grateful I am capable of working hard.


Keeping a gratitude diary will help you to find the positive in every situation, and turn your life around for the better.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Positive Mental Attitude

Look at this glass on the table in front of you. Is it half-full or is it half-empty?
Now, do you realize that it is entirely for you to decide what the answer to this question is going to be?


The choice is yours. You can choose to see the good, or the bad. One will make you feel good, the other will make you feel bad.

So, the very same reality can be seen in totally opposite ways: in a positive way, and in a negative way. And there is always a positive side to any thing, any situation, any event, any person.

Look at the world in a different way. Try to find out that positive side. At first, you might literally have to dig it out, but after some time, it automatically appears to you. In fact, you eventually only see the good side. Everything is beautiful, "everybody's beautiful, in their own way", as the song goes.

Play the “Glad Game” and actively look for the good thing/s in every situation. Add these to your Grateful Diary every day. I have problems keeping my diary down to only 5 entries every day, there are so many things to be grateful for!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

How To Pay Bills With a Smile on Your Face

We all hate that time of month where we sit down and pay all our bills, watching the bank account go down, or the credit card go up.

Like attracts like, so when you feel awful paying bills, you'll attract more of that.

So here's a simple way to turn that around next time you pay a bill :

Before you pay it, sit down and write out all the good things that this product or service did or is doing for you. What did it enable you to do? What would have happened if you didn't have it? Did it help you to achieve something? What did you learn? Are there benefits for the future ?

Smile while you're writing, and you'll soon start feeling grateful for this product or service.

An example is your electricity bill. I'm always grateful when I pay it, because electricity enables me to cook, to play CDs, to have long hot showers, read at night, watch TV, cool or warm the house, keep my food fresh, use my computer and make a living. WOW! Where would I be without it?

Now that you're feeling grateful or amazed, now pay for it. If writing a cheque, add a smiley face to it. If paying online, say "thank you".

Sure beats feeling sour about it!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Value Things We Take For Granted

We are already millionaires. Stop and think about this....

Are you currently in possession of anything for which someone on the planet might be willing to pay in excess of one million dollars?

The initial response is typically negative. Most people give up very quickly after considering the fair market value of their most prized material possessions.

However, let's think about this further.

What about your eyesight? Do you believe that someone who had lost (or never had) the power of sight would say that eyesight would be worth in excess of one million dollars?

What about health? Wouldn't it be fair to say that, to a person who has lost physical mobility due to illness or an accident or to someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, 'health' would be worth at least, if not more than, one million dollars?

Consider freedom? Loving relationships? The use of your ability to think and remember?


In your Gratitude Diary, remember to be grateful for those things we take for granted.