Don’t you think our society has become entitlement crazy, breeding greed and resentment from the “haves”, “should-haves”, and the “have-nots”? We all fall into that rut sometimes where we question “what’s in it for us?”, or get so engrossed on what we’re owed, or why so-and-so has this and that, and play that victim’s role of “why not me or why me?” Ever get that way?
Yeah, it’s a pretty ugly feeling … negative thoughts … wasted energy on negativity. Any way you look at it, all it does is unnecessarily drain your reservoir of energy. What’s that old cliché? Something like an “exercise in futility?” Yeah, feeling and thinking this way gets you nowhere.
I think we need to step back, take a real deep breath, and be thankful for what we got. Really. Just when things start to get negative between your shoulders (aka your brain/mind/mush), start a
mental gratitude journal. You need to be cognizant once those negative thoughts start to creep in, and quickly tell yourself, “Nope, this is definitely not what I want.” And start to focus on things you are genuinely grateful for: thoughts that crack a smile on your face, an event or person that makes you happy, a mentor who has influenced you in the most positive and profound way, and so on … you get the idea. Use it on a daily basis, and your attitude of gratefulness will kick in on auto-pilot – eeek, sounds like some ad for an internet marketing product, huh!?! – and block out your negative thoughts before it even has a chance to rear its ugly head.
I mean come on, don’t you feel good when you’re in a state of gratitude? Sure it does. Gratitude is a very high positive energy, maybe the highest positive energy that emanates from you. And this positive vibration of thought positions you in a high state of attraction. A grateful mind is focused on the best, and thus, it opens you up to receive the best.
So the use of this
mental gratitude journal “forces” you to direct your positive energy (i.e., gratitude) on what you want, and discourages you from focusing (or should I say wasting) negative energy (e.g., fear, worry, anger) on what you don’t want. Either way, energy is energy, so don’t you want to use it in a positive way that will benefit you? Sure you do! Gratitude allows you to direct your highest positive energy on what you want, to your deepest desires.
And there’s even more …
This is significant because you can even express gratitude for something that you may not have manifested yet. You can say, for example, "I am very happy and grateful that money flows to me like water flowing downstream … I am a money magnet.” Saying this in the present tense, with emotion, will help bring the thing you are desiring into existence. Oh yes, and another thing. Medical research has proven that our subconscious brain cannot distinguish between an event taking place in our thoughts or an event taking place in reality. Hey, can we leverage that or what?!? Incorporating visualization with your expressions of gratitude for things that have not manifested yet may super-charge this powerful, positive thought process, and help bring the thing you are desiring into existence at a much faster rate.
So let’s not make gratitude a lost art, especially in this day and age. It is just not worth it to lay stagnant in a pool of negativity telling yourself why this and why that, and feeling like some victim of circumstance. That will get you nowhere. You need to get out of that stagnant pool, and focus your positive energy on what you truly desire. Let’s practice the art of gratitude, and spread this positive energy around, starting with our spouse, relatives, friends, colleagues, our community and even on the World Wide Web!
P.S. What are you grateful for?
For me ... I'm grateful for my wonderful wife, my marriage and being able to celebrate our wedding anniversary together for another year. We had dinner at Roy's and enjoyed a very nice and quiet evening over there. If you're wondering what the heck that picture is at the beginning of the post ... well, that's the sign for the restaurant, Roy's. If you're ever in east Honolulu, by all means, dine at Roy's. Their food is top-notch! Here's a sampling of what we ordered:
"Dim Sum Style" Appetizer:
"Macadamia Nut Crusted Opakapaka (Hawaiian Pink Snapper fish)" Entree:
"Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding w/ Ice Cream" Dessert:
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