Appreciation is the Attitude

Nature Spirits at Play
Watercolour by Beverly Blanchard

It begins like this:  the more you appreciate, the more you get. The more you get, the more you appreciate.  If you stay on the appreciation vibration, life just keeps offering you things you like.  Unfortunately, for many of us appreciation is not part of our everyday thinking.  We get wrapped in the mundane routines of life.  We complain about what it is we don’t like and often we take the people and situations in our lives for granted.  It is only when a tragedy or something breaks down in our life that we stop to reflect on the relevancy of what we had.

Studies have shown that when you operate in a mode of appreciation, there are positive chemical changes that occur in the body.  Levels of the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine decrease, coronary arteries relax which increase the blood supply to your heart.  Your breathing becomes deeper and more relaxed, and by raising the level of oxygen in your body, you become rejuvenated.  In addition, because the mind can only focus on one thing at a time, when you are in a state of heartfelt appreciation you cannot experience anger or fear.

Now I will be the first to admit that it is sometimes difficult to think about appreciation when you are in the middle of your world crashing around you or you are face to face with an ornery person in your life.  What you would rather do is complain or tell someone about it but the more you focus on what is wrong the bigger the problem becomes. 

So how do you shift to appreciation?  You refocus your thinking and start looking for things to praise.  Look for what is going right in your life.  Look for the beauty around you.  Look for things to love.  Think about all the people in your life that love you.  Listen to the music of nature.  Every day it provides you with a symphony and it doesn’t cost you a dime.  Mother Earth spins in her orbit and you didn’t have to do a thing.  The sun comes up every day and doesn’t say you owe me.  If you slept in a bed last night then you have something to appreciate.  If you woke up this morning then you have been given the gift of life.  If you took a shower this morning then you have something to appreciate. Let your imagination go wild and start doing rampages of appreciation.  You can do them anywhere and at anytime…walking down the street…sitting in a meeting…standing in the shower…sitting in your car…standing in line…sitting on the bus…

Begin using your time to your advantage.  Become an optimistic leaning person and live your life in appreciation.  Start making lists of the positive aspects of your life.  Begin now and you will see your life change.

Here is a video by Sivan Garr...there are a lot of people who love and appreciate you...I love you!