Daily Gratitude: I’d rather be a bamboo wouldn’t you? I am amazed by trees and have taken tons of photos of trees since I moved here 21 years ago.

You have to learn to bend and be flexible so you can get through the tough times in life. If you don’t have the flexibility, it’s more likely that something will knock you down. Maybe not right away but eventually.

Remember all the videos you see when there’s a hurricane? All the trees are bending this way and that as the massive winds are trying to flatten everything in its wake.

Wouldn’t you like to be left standing after the storm is over? Whatever storm is brewing in your life? Let it blow and bend with it. You don’t have to be perfectly straight upright for people to respect you. They will respect whomever survives.

How can you practice bending? Is that different than how you’ve acted in the past? Let us know in the comments.

Daily Gratitude: What a great affirmation. Say this in the morning and the Evening. Then say it throughout the day when things are hectic or you’re feeling anxious

We make things too complicated. Most of these things can be broken down into simple components or steps.

Remember that you don’t have to decide an entire plan in one sitting. It’s not even a good idea. Plan some basic beginning steps and then let go of all the details. Figure out the simple things you can do. The universe will help you along if you allow it to.

Once you’ve come up with the simple steps, you will feel more balanced and calm.

I’m sure you’re panicking right now because you think you have to have every single thing in your life figured out immediately (as in right now). Just believe me when I tell you that you don’t! Simple is best for both your “project” and your life.

Take some time to see what you can simplify in your life.

Daily Gratitude: This might give you some incentive to embrace the difficult times. Consider them a training camp to teach you how to handle the bad times when they come.

Try to develop this sort of mindset in addition to practicing looking for the good in every single event that happens in your life.

Make your life like looking for Easter eggs. The kids know there are a lot of “goodies” (eggs) hidden out there and they know that it’s going to be fun finding them. They don’t start out on Easter Sunday thinking “damn this is going to be hard. Is it going to be worth it? I mean who cares – they’re just eggs. What if I don’t find any? People will laugh at me and I’ll cry. I’m just going to sit this one out.” Or something similar.

No, they start the day just like Christmas with excitement about the unknown. They want to explore and see what they can find. Enthusiasm abounds.

If your day isn’t outstanding and maybe you’re a bit down, make a game (or a challenge) out of finding the good that may be hidden from obvious sight.

Do this repeatedly and it will become a habit. Then when the bad things happen, you won’t even have to give it a second thought- you’ll just immediately begin looking for the good. Next thing you know, the bad won’t seem so bad.