Express Gratitude to Enjoy Your Spiritual Life More

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Do you enjoy feeling grateful for your blessings?

Do you find yourself spending more time wishing for more than being thankful for what you have?

Are you interested in enjoying life more?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, this blog post may make your days quite a bit brighter.

Gratitude is one of life's greatest emotions. Gratitude makes you feel special, appreciated, coddled and delighted. Where else can you locate such a wonderful bundle of benefits?

Most people feel gratitude briefly under some of the following circumstances:

- before eating an appealing meal
- after receiving a hoped-for benefit
- during applause
- while being honored for an award
- when someone helps them out of a pickle
- while a loved one shares their love

I'm sure that just the mention of those circumstances brings back happy memories and warm feelings of gratitude.

How might your life change if you felt gratitude 20 times as often?

You'll never know until you try. How about today?

Curiously, we rarely see moments of gratitude in the media. When we do see such moments, the focus is actually on the person who is receiving the gratitude. But the receiver may not actually be enjoying gratitude so much as being acknowledged or appreciated.

Why is that? I think it is to encourage us to spend money . . . the advertiser's perspective on the purpose of the media.

Here are some suggestions for expressing your gratitude.

1. Make a list of what you are grateful for and thank those who helped you receive those benefits.

Chances are there are many things that you feel grateful for which you have never expressed neither to any person nor to God.

Because you haven't expressed that gratitude, your gratitude is hidden except from God.

Some people don't even think you care about what they have done for you.

Think of this idea as "catch-up" gratitude.

But don't wait. Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. Express your sincere feelings today.

2. Sit quietly and think about the things you don't consciously realize you are grateful for.

In your first thoughts, you probably came up with less than one percent of what you actually feel grateful for. Look around at the people and the objects around you . . . and think about whom you could express gratitude to for each item.

If you need a few things to get you started, how about the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, flowers, birds, song, music, friends, love and family?

3. Add to your lists of what makes you feel grateful.

This is important because it will help you to notice when you could feel grateful.

4. Seek out opportunities to feel grateful.

Whenever anything happens, ask yourself, "What can I be grateful about?" For instance, if you get into your car, you could feel grateful for those who taught you to drive, people who helped you avoid accidents in the past, others who assisted you with flat tires and other problems, drivers who showed you courtesy and the police who patrol the roads to keep dangerous drivers from harming anyone.

5. Learn to make the feeling last longer.

While you are feeling grateful, it's natural to look around while in that emotional state . . . and notice something else to be grateful for. See how many links you can make without letting the feeling of gratitude go away. With practice you will eventually be able to feel that way for several minutes. Take a deep breath as you think of each new reason, and you will find your mood will be deepened and reinforced.

6. Encourage your loved ones to express their gratitude more often.

Each time you hear someone being grateful, you will find that expression will remind you of things you are grateful for too. Then, your own gratitude will increase. For example, when I hear one of my children expressing gratitude to someone else, I feel grateful that they are experiencing and expressing this gratitude.

7. Praise others when you hear them express gratitude.

While you are walking down the street, you may hear or see someone express gratitude. That's a good time to praise that person. They will be more likely to be express gratitude in the future, and you will be grateful for having had this reminder to feel grateful.

8. Add new prayers of gratitude to your daily prayers.

I end my prayers with thanking God for as many things as I can think of that have happened recently to make my life more delightful. I always start with thanking God for giving me another day to do His will on earth.

9. Put up little notes of gratitude around your workplace and your home to remind you of your desire to be grateful.

The more conspicuous these notes are the more often you will be reminded to feel grateful.

10. Schedule time to feel grateful.

We all have moments of downtime in our lives. I once listened to 20 people describe what they did while their computer booted up. None of them used that time to be grateful. But it's a great time to do that. During commercials, at stop lights, while waiting for the bus, standing in line at the bank or watching your meal be prepared at McDonald's, you can just spend that time going over some great reasons to be grateful.

Please add your comments with ways that you've found to be grateful more often and for longer. I'm sure that other readers will be interested. Thanks!

Can any billionaire do better? I doubt it.

Billionaires often feel the opposite way. They often report that people don't feel enough gratitude for them. After all, if you give a $100,000,000 gift, how much more grateful can a recipient be than if you gave a $10 gift? The generous billionaire has to feel short changed.

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

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If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you. I'm grateful for your interest.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell