“Develop An Attitude of Gratitude and Watch Your Life Expand”. How do you do that?

We are living in an age where depression is rife. Every year in Australia 800,000 adults experience a depressive illness. Even young children are now being diagnosed with depression.

One in four women and one in six men will suffer depression sometime in their lives.

Depression is the leading cause of disability in Australia.

The World Health Organisation has predicted that by 2020 depression will be the second biggest health problem world-wide behind heart disease.

So What’s The Answer? Here’s One!

How would things change if we began to focus on the positive in our lives?
What might happen if we developed an attitude of gratitude?
What if we focused on everything in our lives that we can be thankful for?

Brian Tracy says:

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”

Develop An Attitude of Gratitude and Write in a Gratitude Book.

I have a gratitude book. It is an up-market A4 notebook. I paid $15.00 for it at Officeworks. I wanted it to be attractive because I wanted what was inside it to be seen as valuable. I have been writing in this book now for a number of years. In fact this is my 4th gratitude book.

I used to write in it every day at the beginning. Now it might be 3 times a week or whenever something really good happens for me. I date each entry and write about what I am grateful for in my life that day or over the previous days.

There’s something about writing it in my hand-writing as distinct from doing it on a computer. It is reflective and seems to be more connected to my inner self.

Sometimes it just flows out of me. Other times I am quite stuck. When things don’t go as I would like them to, when I am stressed or when someone has let me down, it is difficult to write. Those are the times I force myself to find the good in my situation. It’s amazing how you can find it when you dig deep and get into the right frame of mind.

I write in the early morning because I find it is a great way to start the day. It creates a very positive and constructive mindset. Some people prefer to do it at the end of the day as a way to bring value and meaning to their day.

Here is what I wrote this morning:

• I am grateful to T and A and S and G, my LinkedIn colleagues who were willing to have a phone call with me and talk through their experience which i needed for a masterclass I conducted.
• I am grateful that when my printer broke down yesterday that it was just a piece of paper stuck inside it, that I didn’t have to buy a new printer.
• I am immensely grateful and privileged to be sitting here in this chair with a cup of coffee reading this book in the quiet of the morning (6 am) in this beautiful house – and not under a bridge.

One of the great values of writing things down for which you are grateful is that when you are feeling that life has jinxed you, when everything seems to be going wrong, when you have had that day from hell, you can read back through your book and become aware that much of the time life is good to you. You can re-charge yourself and become positive and pro-active again very quickly.

Tim Sanders in his book Today We Are Rich made some inspiring comments about gratitude.

“The difference between a grateful person and an ungrateful person lies in perception: One sees a life of beauty; the other sees a life of lack.”
“You can be glad in the same pants you got mad in.”
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. Your words of appreciation can reward others and inspire onlookers.”
“If you feel fortunate, let it change you as a person. Turn this newfound energy into generosity. Gratitude will give you a desire to give back.”

My Motivational Challenge For This Week

So this week I want to motivate you to get a Gratitude Book and begin to start saying thank you to your life and your world for what it has given you.
Watch your life take on new meaning. Watch it become positive and proactive. Watch it become successful and happy.