Daily Gratitude: I read about this in a daily newsletter I get and it struck me as so simple yet so important. A child is filled with wonder and curiosity and is in awe of so much in their surroundings. That’s what often gets them in trouble. They don’t have preconceived notions or judgments about things. They go into a situation wanting to find out everything there is to know. And then we lose that because of the limitations and fear placed upon or around everything. If we want to really experience life we have to pass through the doors we encounter without fear. We need to wonder what’s on the other side not worry about it. Be open. Be curious. Don’t be afraid or resentful or judgmental. That is childish. There’s entitlement too. Think of the temper tantrums of the little ones when things don’t go their way. The “it’s not fair” shouting and slamming of doors. These are the characteristics we wish to avoid. Enter into every day with the “I wonder what I’ll learn today attitude” and beautiful things will open up for you.

Daily Gratitude: Have you ever noticed this? The more you concentrate on the bad in someone or something, the more you see the bad. Your brain is doing what it thinks you want. Since you’ve criticized something in that person, your brain thinks that’s what you want to focus on and it does its usual bang-up job of bringing you what you want, what you “asked for”. Remember that it’s just one big database and it has an excellent filtering system. If you look at something and declare it “bad”, that annotation goes into the database and all such things are labeled the same. So, next time you see that same thing OR something similar, guess what? It is labeled bad. Then your “I want to please you” thinks you’re interested in that sort of thing so it searches for anything and anyone with even a smidgen of similarity so it can point it out to you as bad. Have you ever had or almost had a fight with someone very close to you and then all of a sudden you begin to see qualities in them that you’d swear were never there before? It’s because your helpful brain is now pointing out what it thinks you want to be made aware of – those annoying things that you ignored for decades. If you start looking for the good in someone or something, even if you have to stretch it, you will start to see more things you’ve interpreted (your brain has interpreted) as good. Maybe it’s something as mundane as “well he doesn’t talk with his mouth full”, “his clothes are clean”, “ he didn’t spit”, or “she doesn’t chew gum. You may have to really stretch to find something. Do it and then do it again the next day and continue until that thing’s presence is more tolerable. You’ll see the law of attraction at work if you diligently practice this.

Daily Gratitude: This is so true. The problem we humans have is that sometimes we keep those blinders and sleep masks so tight on our faces with the earplugs in place that we don’t hear or see those messages. As one who has been an expert at this all my life, I again, implore you to take off the masks and pull out the earplugs and LISTEN. Pain is a very big message. Put simply, since you already know that your brain is primarily a protective organ, pay attention to your brain’s communications. In the past when the universe sent me a “text message”, it was as if I was trying to decipher a teenager’s text or worse yet, like so many people, i ignored the message – I “couldn’t be bothered”. You WILL feel pain. The thing is that we do such a good job of suppressing our emotions, that we don’t allow ourselves to feel the emotional pain. But the brain will not be outsmarted. It recognizes this road block and has done a wonderful job of finding a detour – chronic physical pain. It’s really that simple – your brain is trying to alert you and it will try both ways to get you to listen. When you keep your emotions buried deep in the cellar (does anyone use that word anymore?), it says “okey dokey. Be that way” and it sends you physical pain. Listen listen listen. It’s giving you information you need to pay attention to. You really want to get an A, not an F on this exam.