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Know this: In A Way, You’re Already There

 

Please, on a piece of paper, list twenty things you are grateful for in your life.

The first point of this is to take your problem-oriented brain off of the problems for a while, to give it some “breathing space”.

(To find out more about the problem-oriented brain, download and read this free report: The Problem Discovery Machine. (Adobe Acrobat file - pdf) [Or view it online here])

 

For me, the list includes

* my wife

* my son

* the fact that I still have my parents

* that they are of reasonably good health

* that my family and I have a roof over our head

* that we never go hungry

* we have plenty of access to fresh water

* I have the freedom to chose my occupation (within limits to be sure, but still!)

* that my doctor discovered my insulin resistance before it turned into full-blown diabetes

* that I know how to read and write

* that I can go for a walk in the forest nearby when I want,

* and so on and so on and so on….

 

If you live in a house or an apartment where you’ve been for a while, just take a look around you and look at all the things you have, many for which you might want to be grateful.

(If you look around you and you’re thinking “what a lot of shit” – please consider the possibility that you are so rich you can actually buy stuff you don’t really need, and be grateful for that ( – and then consider whether uncluttering your life would add value, rather than subtract from it).

Okay, now make your own list, if you haven’t already (come on, DO it! If it helps, print out this page and fill in the blanks.)

 

Twenty Things I Am Grateful For

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So, did you find out you are already so rich you have things you don’t need or even want? Did you treasure your ability to walk? To breathe without aid? Your closeness to nature – to the tranquil woods or a placid lake? Or to the city, the bustling life, the endless opportunities?

Did you remember to treasure the fact that you can smile?

Imagine a life without smiling.

If you own a piece of land, did you think to appreciate it?

A good chair?

A fond memory?

I believe every person I ever met or will meet has an interesting life story, if only that person could relate the ups and downs of their lives – and as a consequence, everyone would have something to be grateful for.

We have so many things to be grateful for, yet many of us do not include gratefulness in our days.

Being grateful is one of the keys.

And when you’re grateful and count your blessings, as they say (we counted to twenty…)

… can you see the parts you would like to keep in your life? The ones that are already with you, and that you would want to have in your dream life?

That is the second point of doing this little exercise.

If, in your dream life you want more money, have you been grateful for the money you have now, however little? If you want more freedom, have you been grateful for the freedom you’re enjoying right now? (Like the freedom to read this blog?)

The things we focus on grow, and counting your blessings is a beautiful way of focusing on the things you want in your life.

Here’s the kicker:

I’m betting that most of the things (probably all of them) that you listed that you were grateful for, you would want to keep in your dream life also.

See how you’re already living somewhat in that dream life?

So many pieces of the puzzle are actually in place. All you need is a bit more of something, and a bit less of other things.

In many ways, you are already there.

Now is the time to be grateful for that.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 3:07 am and is filed under Inspirational. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.