There’s a wonderful raw food restaurant nearby called the Gratitude Cafe.
I know – raw food restaurants can freak some people out.
I promise you though, they make incredible deserts!
When you eat there, the staff typically asks each person a question of the day. It is typically something like “What are you grateful for?”
Wow, that may appear to be a difficult question to answer this year for many.
It has been a tough year.
A tough economy.
A tough job market.
A tough housing market.
And, all these stresses add up and ripple across other areas in our lives.
Find Gratitude
When I look back at 2009, it was challenging for me on a personal level, emotionally, and spiritually.
But, I’m also really grateful.
It has been a powerful year. And I have great hope for the future.
I’m grateful for having a wonderful loving woman in my life. I’m grateful for the opportunities that are opening up at this exciting and sometimes chaotic company. I’m grateful for all the incredible people that I work with. And, I’m grateful for all the new friendships that I’m forming and the support from friends, teachers, and family that I received during this year. The list goes on and on.
And, I’m very grateful to YOU, our readers. Our blog has grown over 350% this year!
Thank you for reading. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing our content with the world! I’ve really enjoyed this opportunity to write and cultivate a relationship with you this year.
And, thank you for all of your feedback, both positive and negative. We’re listening, we’re learning, and we’re getting better!
My heart is filled with gratitude. And, I’m excited that I even have an opportunity to say that publicly on a corporate blog!
Make 2010 a Happier Year
Robert Evans, in his book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, concluded that being in a state of gratitude increases your happiness.
In his experiments, people who focused on gratitude felt 25% happier than others who focused on either the hassles of life or the events in our weeks.
Focusing on gratitude led the participants to feel more optimistic about the future and feel better about their lives. They even found more energy and motivation. They exercised 1.5 hours more each week than those who were not focused on gratitude.
So, let’s give thanks and shift out of any negative thought patterns, be more optimistic, and create the momentum to achieve our 2010 goals.
Follow these Steps to Map Your Way to Happiness in 2010:
Create a gratitude map. Sit down and start a mind map for everything that you are grateful for in your life. Start with whatever comes to mind. Organize it in any way that you like. Explore your gratefulness.
Review and update your map. Visit your map, review it, and update it. It can take as little as 5 minutes. But, it’s a powerful five minutes. It’ll internalize your gratitude. Do it daily if you want to really power up your year.
Give thanks to those around you. Look at the people in your life. How do they support you? Challenge you? Remember, the people who challenge us are often the ones that support us the most. They help us grow and reach our potential.
Don’t take anything for granted. I gave a presentation the other day and asked, “Which sense would you fear losing the most?” Scary thought right? Every day we wake up and take for granted the most basic gifts. Our sight, our hearing, smell, taste and touch. When we reflect on how much we have to be grateful for, life starts feeling better!
Download your gratitude map and get started today!