Daily Gratitude: Can you take a few minutes to think about this quote? Can you see how you have received much more than you have ever given? Sometimes we have to write things down. Writing is much better than talking anyway and it engages more of your brain. Why not take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side list all the things you’ve received (I’m pretty sure you’ll need more than one page for this exercise). In the other column put all the things you’ve given. How long do you think this will take? If you do it well, I think it could take a few days. So, I wouldn’t engage in it in a half-hearted way. Do this if you really want to see all the blessings the universe has bestowed upon you. You can even ask yourself “what will I get out of doing this?” After all, that’s what we seem to think about most of the time isn’t it? “What’s in it for me?” I think that if you do this, you’ll find out that a whole lot has been in it for you. And that maybe it’s time you tried to even the odds and start giving more back? Maybe, just maybe….

Daily Gratitude: This kind of goes along with the idea of making a bullet list of happy moments. When you wake up in the morning, plan for a happy day. How? By declaring that you are going to experience everything that happens to you in a wonderful light and thank the universe for any and all lessons, or gifts, it’s going to give you today. Remember that things aren’t bad or good, they just are. It’s how we respond and interpret them that will determine our happiness. So wouldn’t it be better and more productive to look at anything and everything that happens to you and say out loud (or to yourself) “I declare it good!” Catherine Ponder taught that many years even before i learned about metaphysics and you may have heard others adopt it (like Jocko Willink’s “good”). When something lasts over decades and is passed down AND adopted, you can pretty much tell that it’s valuable information. So, start today as a new day, declare everything that happens as “good” (practice doing it even with the things that you already deem to be good so that it becomes a habit) and keep track of your happiness bullets.

Daily Gratitude: It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others and see how we don’t “measure up”. We rarely take time to compare and say “wow, I’m not so bad at that” or – gasp – “I’m actually pretty good at that”. Why not? Have you ever asked yourself why you don’t use comparison to identify the good things in you? What would happen if you did that? Could you possibly find things that you are proud of? Even if you didn’t have the courage to blatantly tell others, could you at least admit the good qualities or achievements to yourself? Could you stop “wishing you weren’t x,y, or z” or “hoping you could do or have ‘that’ “, whatever ‘that’ is? Can you give yourself a little test? Take a few days and track how often you are using comparison (isn’t that the same as judging but with a different name?). Every time you notice you’re comparing (and beware that it can show up in subtle ways), dissect what you’re doing and how you could think or feel differently about the situation. See if this can change the way you look at things around you….and how you look at your own life now.