Appreciating Life

APPRECIATING LIFE

The mindset that something great and wonderful has to happen before we can be happy is a myth. If you believe that winning a prize or buying yourself that great item that you've been wanting so long is going to make you happy, you're absolutely right. It will make you happy...for about two hours. Then you'll be looking for something else to bring on that shot of joy. Take pleasure out of the little things in life that happen more frequently and you'll find the long term solution to true happiness.

The weather feels so very much cooler after days of extreme hotness. Your loved ones seem so much more precious whenever they've been away. You truly appreciate and value your good health after recovering from a difficult and prolonged illness. You learn new respect for financial discipline after working your way out of a burdensome debt. It’s easy and natural to appreciate the good things after you’ve experienced life without them. Take a moment to feel, to sincerely feel, how good life is. Breathe in the magnificent possibilities of this unique place and time. Fully experience the wonderful and amazing fact that you are here. You are alive and aware, and in a position to make all sorts of great things happen.

Sometimes small acts of kindness can bring just as much joy as the big ones that everyone hears about. Start noticing the little things people do, even if they aren't being done for you, and appreciate the goodness that still lies in people's hearts. You might see someone give up their sit in a bus for a woman who is standing with two kids or someone much older. A driver on a busy highway might slow down to give you access as you merge from the entrance ramp. The person at the end of a business call might give you a sincere wish to have a great day even though the transaction doesn't even call for anything other than a professional attitude. These are small things, but when we notice them, they can really warm our hearts and build our faith in the human spirit.

Right now, you have the opportunity for another magnificent day of being you. Life’s immense goodness is yours with which to work. Focus your thoughts on the good and valuable things that are. Focus your heart on the good and fulfilling things that can be. Your existence in this moment, on this day, is nothing short of a miracle. Celebrate the goodness, and commit yourself to spreading it far and wide. Feel the rich, authentic joy that is the joy of being you. Now, on this day, let it flow out into all you know, and see, and do.