G R A T I T U D E

We had dinner with friends last night.  By common consent, before dinner, we attended a free (it was worth a lot more) lecture by a man named Jerry Posner, whom I had never heard of before.  His work is motivational speaking.  His twist, or schtick if you will, is simple... you don't have to go to a monastery in Tibet or spend a weekend with Wayne Dyer or learn everything there is to learn about Positive Psychology...just follow a few simple "suggestions."  Ask yourself: What is important? What is Meaningful? What is right for me? What do I want most?

The title of his talk was "Making Miracles Happen." or something like that.  He suggested that to do that (and the definition of miracle is different for everyone) there are a few steps...
Visualize the outcome and the path to it
Desire it
Anticipate it, expect it, believe in it
Ask for assistance, accept when offered
Put your "miracle" on your to-do list and review daily
Choose optimism and remember motivation
Give yourself permission
Make a plan and adjust as necessary

There were many other interesting and insightful things that he shared with our intimate group but one of the "take aways" (make sure you always have a couple of important points to take away from every meeting or why have a meeting at all) is WRITE A GRATITUDE JOURNAL.  What is that you ask?  It is a simple list, written anywhere, the "NOTES" app on an iPhone works great, listing 5 things or whatever number you feel comfortable with that you are grateful for today.  Research by real medical experts specifically in the field of Positive Psychology tells us that the simple act of WRITING this stuff down will make your life better.  Remembering the good things overshadows the insults, injuries, and perceived injustices that bombard us every day. There is no need for me to tell you the things I am grateful for (for which I am grateful, grammatically speaking) you have your own list.  Suffice it to say, I am writing my 5 things down every morning.  One thing for certain...my days are waaaaay better when I start with positive thoughts rather than the 50 ways that our government is screwing us, lying to us about Benghazi, or secretly recording all our conversations.  Give it a try.  As an iPhone user, for the first few days until I got into the habit, I set a calendar reminder for myself every morning. "Write gratitude journal" at 7 am.