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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “Change my life just by changing my thoughts? No way. You don’t understand- my life is different!” I can hear that now. But I imagine your life isn’t as bad as the prisoners of war we’ve had. Or some of the people you see on Facebook (or in your life) who are suffering with cancer but still posting jokes to try to cheer people up. Read some of the prisoner of war’s stories and you’ll be amazed. The most important factor for their survival was their thoughts. Read about Admiral Stockdale and how he combined the ability to confront his horrible reality while at the same time maintaining unwavering faith. Viktor Frankl is another one who used his thoughts to survive. Don’t be a prisoner in your own war. Don’t let your inner critic who is simply a fear based part of you talk you into an abyss of woe. Talk back. As two of my favorite sports psychologists tell you – talk to your brain because if you don’t, you’ll have to listen to that negative chatter your brain is tossing at you. For once, it’s ok to interrupt. Start your day writing a sentence or two about what a terrific day it’s going to be. If you don’t want to write then think it or say it out loud. Repeat it on your way to work even. See if you like the concept – does it change how you feel?

I am grateful for the few hours of fall weather we had yesterday.
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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: Stress is both good and bad. Actually it’s the stress reaction that’s both good and bad. Without it we would not be able to respond to true danger. But our brain does not know the difference between a bomb dropping on our head and the cancellation of our favorite TV series or being stuck in traffic. It responds the same. The constant outpouring of the stress chemicals is not good for the body. It leads to chronic Illness and pain. “So what do you expect me to do about it? I can’t go live on a fancy private island.” You might be growling. You can change how you think about things, though. So you’re stuck in traffic. Look around you and enjoy what you see or use that time to daydream. It doesn’t do you any good to be mad or upset during that time. Listen to the radio or sing your own song. Change how you’re thinking. When I was in DC I lived 70 miles south and the traffic was always horrendous. One December a storm was coming. I asked my boss if I could leave early. He always said yes knowing the circumstances. But this one day we were having a guest speaker and he said no. I was so angry. But I stayed. Thank goodness. It turned out there was a 100 car accident on I-95 and had I left when I wanted I would have been right in the middle of it. It still took me 8 hours to get home but I was safe and extremely grateful. Make a date with yourself and promise you’ll start thinking about the things that you think are going “wrong” differently. Do it as an experiment and see if you feel better.

I am grateful the universe always takes care of me and most of the time I remember that when things are happening