Daily Gratitude: I strive to live by this although it’s not always easy. It’s much more handy to get caught up in the “same old, same old”. You know- bemoaning and complaining about how things stink and maybe some “genie” moments – the ones where you exclaim “I wish things were different”. You expect the genie to pop out of the magic lamp and tell you that they will fulfill your one wish. That’s not going to happen, BUT you can work your own magic. This is not a pill or injection that will make you feel better NOW. It takes work and commitment, sort of like going to therapy. Take some time – preferably a lot of time. Visualize how you want things to be. Get this as a clear picture with as many details as possible. Use the visualization many times each day, especially when you start to focus on (or even just think about) how lousy things are right now. You want to stop that neural circuit from playing over and over and the best way to do that is to have another circuit in place so all you have to do is flip the switch and start playing the new one. Your mind doesn’t know what’s real and what’s imagined. It will start following the circuit that’s played the most and we want that to be the new one. In essence, we’re putting up “road closed” signs and “detour” directions. I actually use those road signs as part of my visualizations. As soon as I start to think about a “problem” I immediately see a road closed sign. Then I look for the detour. If I’ve been diligent and done my “homework”, the new neural circuit pops up right where the detour sign is pointing. If I haven’t been diligent, I immediately start to create the scenario I want to happen and the act of creating it helps to take my mind off the problem and onto the solution. This takes time and work and often people stop doing it because they think it’s futile. But I believe that this process coupled with “everything always works out for me”, will help you greatly. Things do not change with wishing and hoping. Your mind and energy is powerful and using this technique will show you that power.