gratitude

Operation Gratitude

by
operation gratitude

Science has shown that gratitude is the single greatest correlation with human well-being than any other character trait. Operation gratitude is an in depth look into the affects of gratitude on your well-being and a guide to finding your inner happiness. So, to begin we must first understand, what is gratitude?

Gratitude Synonym

“Grace, gratefulness, appreciative, obligation, acknowledgment, thanks, recognition.”

Grateful Definition

“Feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness.”

It’s been wisely said that, “life is a journey, not a destination. It’s not about getting there, it’s about who you become along the way.” So, this begs the question, “how do I become the best version of myself along the way?” Well, the best place to start is actually through gratitude.

  • Gratitude and appreciation for life
  • Being grateful for what is, as it is

The Science of Gratitude

An Attitude For Gratitude

  • Emotional swings
  • Anger
  • Guilt
  • Fear
  • Depression

These are all common reactions to daily pressure(s), chronic stress and broken relationships. Understandably, these are the challenges and chaos that can evoke a life of ingratitude, ‘heaviness’ and despair.  However, it’s precisely these times when you need to dig down deep and find away to transform these life stresses into grateful states of gratitude and order.  But how??

balancing act

How To Achieve Balance

We usually experience an ‘emotional charge‘ when we see more positives than negatives, or more negatives than positives in:

  • A person
  • Situation
  • Circumstance

And, the greater the charge the greater the emotion.  So, when we begin to experience lopsided emotions, we get further from our true nature. We lower our self worth and can assume a false persona such as:

  1. Self righteous and cocky when we see more positives than negatives
  2. Self deprecating and bummed out when we see more negatives than positives

However our true self is neither. Our true self is a:

  • Centered
  • Poised
  • Stable
  • Humble
  • Open hearted being

One that seeks the hidden blessings and balance in every situation.  Therefore, when we are in a state of gratitude, we are better able to balance our perceptions.

gratitude journal

The Art Of Gratitude

The best place to start in developing the art of gratitude is by taking some time each and every day to write a list of that which you are grateful for in a gratitude journal.  Initially this may seem difficult and perhaps repetitive. But with daily practice, new neural pathways will develop in your brain, pruning away old negative thoughts that were holding you back. In time you will create a new state of mind and eventually gratitude will be a part of your new identity.

“Many psychologists now believe that emotional intelligence is more important than IQ—both at work and at play.”

It’s All About Perception

Practice being mindful of your thoughts (metacognition) each day. Eventually you will develop the skill of balancing your perceptions by asking yourself what are the benefits (positive) and drawbacks (negatives) of the situation, circumstance or person. By doing this, your certainty and non-judgement will rise proportional to your level of gratitude.

So, now that you understand the connection between gratitude and perceptions of mind, you can now work towards:

  • Becoming more inspired and unconditionally loving
  • Decreasing the divisiveness in your mind
  • Increasing your self worth

Ingratitude is often associated with depression and despair. Whereas gratitude increases your dopamine and serotonin levels in your brain, acting as a natural antidepressant. Also, YOU must address all areas of your health for your body to heal such as your:

Many people make it all about one thing (i.e., Nutrition or exercise) and neglect the rest.  However this alone will not give your body the opportunity it needs to heal.

Looking for additional support on finding inner happiness? See how meditation can benefit your health and assist you in finding enlightenment and gratitude along the way.

Kids Practicing Gratitude (and 10 things I'm grateful for)

Operation Gratitude – The Key To Happiness

In conclusion, everyone wants to be loved and appreciated.  And, the appreciation you have for others is directly impacted by the appreciation and love you have for yourself.  So, once you implement operation gratitude and achieve a ‘grateful state of mind’ you, will begin to unconsciously fulfill your purpose in life by attracting the right kind of:

  • People
  • Places
  • Things
  • Events

Remember, be grateful for what you are given and you will be given more to be grateful for.

Click here for a simple action plan to work on developing an attitude of gratitude today. 

What’s Next?

In my next blog we will continue our talk about controlling our emotions.  How thinking is the language of the mind, and feeling is the language of the body. Therefore if we don’t keep our thoughts and feelings in check, our bodies eventually become the mind.

4 Tips to an Abundant, Joy Filled Life

by
4 Tips to an Abundant Joy Filled Life

We all want to live in a rich, fulfilling and abundant life. But sometimes it feels like it is far out of our reach. We can get bogged down with the daily struggle and sometimes it feels difficult to turn life around and create abundance, health, time freedom, wealth and happiness in our day to day lives. There are several tips that you can follow to create the best version of your life from no matter where you are starting from.

1. Gratitude

The most important aspect of creating an abundant, joy filled life is having an attitude of gratitude. By focusing on the most positive aspects of our lives, we are able to increase what we focus on. Find gratitude for even the most small things in our day – the gift of being able to move our limbs and walk! Or the gift of having food to eat throughout the day or the ability to be connected to everyone we could want simply at the touch of a button on the device in our hand.

If you are struggling to find something to be grateful for, just sit with your breath for a few minutes. Follow the inhalations and exhalations and have gratitude for the rich oxygen flowing into your body to nourish and fuel your cells and brain.

When you are able to focus on small pieces of gratitude, your overall abundance of gratitude grow and spills over to be your main focus during more of your day.

2. Detachment

Detachment from the outcomes that you are hoping for is an essential part of living a life that is balanced and healthy. It is the ability to not focus on how events will play out and how it will affect you, but how you can thrive every day no matter what happens. Things have a way of working themselves out, and by trying to stay neutral to outcomes, both good and bad, it helps you to stay level and not follow the highs and lows of life.

3. Attraction

Use the Law of Attraction to your benefit and use the magnetic attraction of like and like, to draw things into your life that you would like to see. Create space in your life to allow new things to come into your life, but again, stay somewhat detached by knowing that either way, life is good when you are filled with gratitude.

4. Refuel

Take time to refuel your body, mind and spirit and know that the time you spend with yourself, enjoying your own company is a worthwhile investment into your health. Enjoy hobbies that you have long forgotten about and devote a few hours per week to you own mental health and clarity, to clear the way for feelings of gratitude and to become clear on what you would like to attract into your life.

Spend time with your family and friends, those who make you feel good about the world and focus on the positive parts of your life and they are sure to multiply.

5 Tips You Must Know to Destroy Stress Today!

by

What are you doing to manage your stress? It seems like every day we are inundated by more and more triggers, and the world just seems to be speeding up.

If you can’t keep up, what if you just stopped? What if you just turned off the pace of the rest of the world and went inside for a bit?

The thing is, most of the daily stresses in our lives will not matter in five years. Maybe not even in 5 days! But they are serious triggers in a moment-by-moment day.

Obviously, there are the major stresses, such as the passing of a loved one, major life decisions, new career opportunities, relationships ending and children arriving into your life, but for the daily stresses, how can we manage that better?

Most of us are on the clock.

The majority of stress is because we have way too many things to complete in a day, than the clock gives us time to do!

It’s always speeding up and the to-do list tends to continue to grow.

Between responsibilities at home, at work, at your children’s school, caring for aging parents, creating healthy meals, working on your relationships and squeezing in a little social time, it is really hard to balance everything that life demands of us.

Here are some tips that will sound crazy, and your stressed-out brain will say “ABSOLUTELY NOT! I HAVE NO MORE TIME IN THE DAY FOR ANYTHING!”

But I promise you, that after just a couple weeks, (and in some cases just a couple of days) your life will feel more put together than you could ever imagine in this moment.

1. Quit Sugar, Quit Caffeine, Quit Smoking, Quit Drinking (Yes, you read that right!)

All of these substances wreak havoc on your adrenals and your stress response system. Your body does not need any other external stresses to deal with, and sugar, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are all very serious triggers for your body. It sends your body out of equilibrium by introducing external substances that are meant to excite or depress you. Your body must fight to expel these substances and adds an extra burden to your health.

Stop the sugary foods – pasta, breads, rice, muffins, cereal, and focus on consuming a colourful plant based diet. Limit your caffeine intake to one coffee per day, no more soda and no more energy drinks! Even switching to herbal tea would make a huge impact! Get off the cigarettes and curb your evening wine or drinks. It all interferes with your entire system.

2. Begin a Daily Stress Reduction Practice

Even for 5 minutes a day, sit in a relaxed position and let you mind focus on gratitude. Focus on your breath, the easiest thing you can be grateful for. Follow your breath and feel its powerful rhythm. Enjoy the moment between inhalation and exhalation – the pause – as there is power in the stillness. This little bit of time will help to centre you for your day.

3. Move that Body!

Seriously, for even 15 minutes a day. Turn the music up and dance! Or speed walk around the neighbourhood with your family. Be silly, take turns seeing who can walk the fastest! Get your heart rate up and have fun! Try a class at the gym, do a yoga video on YouTube, or try a high intensity interval training session. Just move it more often and your body will reward you by feeling energized and more alive.

4. Master Your Mind

Decide what demands your attention and what can wait. Prioritize your to-do list and understand that you can only do what you can do. Try to stop focusing on staying ahead of the clock. What are you rushing against anyway? We all end up in the same place, so why rush through life so quickly?

5. Get Adjusted!

Your spine needs to be in alignment to let you function at 100%! Get adjusted regularly and know that the interferences that find their way into your spine via stress, injuries, repetition and toxins are being removed by your Doctor of Chiropractic.