Gratitude: Why Bother? Studies Tell the Story

Previously I wrote about a practice I had started, listing 5 things each day that I'm thankful for. It has radically altered my life and changed my heart in ways that I couldn't have imagined; my outlook on life has become more positive, and I've become more loving, giving and understanding of others.

For those of you out there that are "practical pragmatists," I found studies that highlight the benefits of people who are grateful and how much more they get out of life.

But first, a few quotes:

"The best kind of giving is thanksgiving."--Chesterton

"Ingratitude is the essence of vileness."--Kant

"Give thanks in all things..."--The Bible

"A noble person is mindful and thankful of the favors he receives from others."--the Buddha

Why it pays to be grateful:
" Consider that recent academic studies have shown:

• People who describe themselves as feeling grateful to others and either to God or to creation in general tend to have higher vitality and more optimism, suffer less stress, and experience fewer episodes of clinical depression than the population as a whole. These results hold even when researchers factor out such things as age, health, and income, equalizing for the fact that the young, the well-to-do, or the hale and hearty might have "more to be grateful for."
  
• Grateful people tend to be less materialistic than the population as a whole and to suffer less anxiety about status or the accumulation of possessions. Partly because of this, they are more likely to describe themselves as happy or satisfied in life.
  
• In an experiment with college students, those who kept a "gratitude journal," a weekly record of things they should feel grateful for, achieved better physical health, were more optimistic, exercised more regularly, and described themselves as happier than a control group of students who kept no journals but had the same overall measures of health, optimism, and exercise when the experiment began. (Researchers use frequency of exercise as a barometer for general well-being because it is an objective measure that links to subjective qualities; people who exercise three or more times per week tend to have better indicators of well-being, even when health conditions that affect the ability to exercise are factored out.)
  
• Grateful people are more spiritually aware and more likely to appreciate the interconnectedness of all life, regardless of whether they belong to specific religions."

[I got this from the article, "Rx for Life: Gratitude (Why every day should be a day of thanksgiving)" by Gregg Easterbrook, found on www.beliefnet.com.] Check it out if you get a chance.

So, you see, it pays to be grateful--literally! I'm glad that the world of mainstream psychology and people in general are beginning to see the wonderful benefits of "giving thanks daily" or being grateful in your own way.

Here is an article about being grateful you might find interesting:

Rx for Life: Gratitude
www.beliefnet.com/story/51/story_5111.html

FUNday Monday Videos Kickoff

This weekend I was stumbling around, looking at online videos and came up with this idea:

A lot of people may struggle to get up Monday morning to face another week of work.

To combat that and help you kick your week off right, bringing a smile to your face at the beginning of your week when u need it most, I present to you:

FUNday Monday Videos

They're silly, they're fun and who knows, they might make you laugh. But they'll definitely change your frame of mind, if you let it.

This one is called "The Gummy Bear Dance." Enjoy!





Sidenote: Since beginning my new job a few months back at NEXTSTUDENT I have to say that I love it and look forward to Mondays and what I do. Honestly, my NextStudent job is the first job that I can say this about.

$50K in 2 days: figure the odds

How'd you like to make twice the median salary of an American in just two days?

It can be done. What's interesting is HOW it happened in this story.

This airline pilot didn't have anything particularly special going for him that I'm aware of. He wasn't involved in network marketing, didn't play the stock market, and it had nothing to do with gambling in the futures or options markets, or any other crazy scheme or idea.

The key component here is LUCK. You see, Mr. Raymond Snouffer Jr. won the lottery. Twice. Two days in a row. According to lottery officials, the odds of that happening were "incalcuable." I'd say.

Congratulations, Mr. Snouffer! We don't know how you pulled it off.

I guess this remarkable feat just goes to show you that no matter what your situation, you can always have hope in the miraculous and get it.

Now, I'm not advocating that everyone invest their life savings in the "big one" (lottery that is) and hope that they will somehow make millions.

I'm simply pointing out that whatever your dreams and desires are , however unlikely it may seem that you will achieve them, move forward with hope and faith. Someday, you will see them fulfilled. As with the man who won the lottery two days in a row, stranger things have happened!

I found this story, "‘Virtually incalculable’ odds: Minnesota man wins $25,000 lottery two days in a row," on the MSNBC site, www.msnbc.com.

Sure-Fire Success System that Never Fails

Recently, I've come to realize that the most important ingredient that you must have if you want to succeed is a positive attitude or mindset.


Mindset Matters if You Want to Make it Big

While, in the past, I've given grudging acknowledgement to this principle, it wasn't until the last three weeks that I had a revelation that has literally changed my life. What I learned can best be summarized in the following points I found in a book, "Napoleon Hill's Keys to Positive Thinking; 10 Steps to Health, Wealth and Success:"

"The successful person will make the time to do what's important. This includes reading and studying to develop wealth, achieving success in their particular vocation and acquiring good health.
  
The key to making your private time pay off is to challenge yourself. Explore new worlds and philosophies that cast a new light on your situation. There are countless ways to do this. Let's look at four basic ones:

1) Condition your mind.
If you have religious training, you will find it helpful to pray for guidance. Your greatest hope lies in the power of prayer.

2) Make a plan.
It's a good practice to think in terms of yourself, your family, your vocation and whatever else is of interest to you. Have specific objectives and time limits to achieve them. You can have more than one definite purpose as long as it's not in conflict with any other.

3) Question yourself.
Consider the many possibilities at which you can arrive. Then, decide which is most desirable. Write down the questions you asked yourself and your responses in a permanent notebook.

4) Refresh your memory.
It's imperative to check back with yourself regularly, preferably on a daily basis. Make it a point to update your permanent notebook daily."

Inspirational Videos on Success

Here are some of the most powerful videos I’ve found that deal with the topic of success.

As you may know, one of the most important characteristics of success is your attitude and belief in yourself, despite what’s going on around you.

Cheers—enjoy!

What drives you to succeed? 




Control your thoughts for success





Succeed with a positive attitude





How to remain positive even if…




Attitude makes all the difference

Napoleon Hill's Keys to Positive Thinking: 10 Steps to Health, Wealth, and Success

My last post I revealed a fantastic resource that has helped me to set aside the time I need to work on my mindset on the way to success (Napoleon Hill's Keys to Positive Thinking: 10 Steps to Health, Wealth, and Success).

I would highly encourage you to get it if you haven't already.

This book will enable you to put the principles found in Hill's highly acclaimed "Think and Grow Rich" book into practice, and get you taking action in no time.


Today I will unveil the exact 10 step process to help you become healthy, wealthy and successful (if you take action): 

STEP ONE --- Take possession of your own mind with conviction (p25-34)

STEP TWO --- Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don't want (p35-46)

STEP THREE --- Live the "Golden rule" --- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!" (p47-56)

STEP FOUR --- Eliminate all negative thoughts by "self-inspection" (p57-65)

STEP FIVE --- Be happy and make others happy (p66-76)

STEP SIX --- Form a habit of tolerance (p77-85)

STEP SEVEN --- Give yourself positive suggestions (p86-85)

STEP EIGHT --- Use your power of prayer or meditation (p96--107) 10)

STEP NINE --- Set goals! (p108-116)

STEP TEN --- Study, think and plan daily (p117-125)

Perfectly Positive Pollyanna Get's Real

Last night I was thinking about the big disconnect between my desires and where I really am. For me there's this huge gaping valley that at times seems impossible to traverse.

Here's what I mean:

• I want to be positive but I tend to be critical and judgemental.
• I want to be happy but don't always seem to have the best attitude.
• I want to be unaffected by my circumstances, but tend toward frustration.

Now I understand that life isn't perfect and that we are all our own biggest critics, yet it would be wise to include a lot of grace in the mix. Not only when dealing with others, but also when dealing with ourselves. I think it would go a long way.

Anyway, I found this great article by David Leonhardt entitled simply "Happiness" that really encouraged my heart-it adjusted my perspective in a way that I desperately needed.

His website is: www.thehappyguy.com and you can get his "Daily Dose of Happiness" email, where I got this piece. I've taken the liberty of emphasizing key points.


"Happiness
Are you happy every day? Are you happy every hour? Are you happy every minute? Me neither.

Happiness is not about wearing a 24/7 grin across your face. Happiness is about being comfortable with who you are and where you are, and feeling that your life is good.

There is room for frustration in happiness.
There is no room for being ruled by frustration.

There is room for sadness in happiness.
There is no room for being ruled by sadness.

There is room for anger in happiness.
There is no room for being ruled by anger."
What a refreshing perspective!

Attitude Matters--How's Yours?

This is your second helping from my toolbox of favorite quotes.

We started with "Destiny," to kinda give you the big picture, now I'll give you a few from "Attitude." My experience has been that you can have the world's greatest goals and "shoot-for-the-moon" aspirations, but if your attitude STINKS, then it's not likely you'll get where you want to go.

The foundation of your attitude is your BELIEFS, which is something everyone must look at along the road to success, if they don't want to lose everything (or everyone) along the way. I'll spend some time covering this later.

Attitude:

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."--William James

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life."--John Homer Miller

"You are searching for the magic key that will unlock the door to the source of power; and yet you have the key in your own hands, and you may make use of it the moment you learn to control your thoughts."--Napoleon Hill

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."--Proverbs 23:7 (Amplified version)

Food for Thought (or quotes to live by)

This weekend I was going thru some old stuff and found some of my long-lost quotes, dear to my heart.

Over the next few weeks, I'll talk about these more in-depth. I'll hit on what they mean to me and how they can serve as reminders to keep us moving along the signposts of life in the pursuit of our goals, dreams and desires.

They are especially helpful when you hit a snag, become discouraged or things take a turn for the worse--when there's not much else you can do.

And oh, yeah. Scripture works well too. By this I mean verses from the Bible. More on that later.

But, for now, here are some of my favorites:

Destiny

"We become what we think about. Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy."--Kierkegaard

"Concentrate on where you want to go not on what you fear."--Anthony Robbins

"It's a funning thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."--W. Somerset Maugham

"To love what you do and can feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?"--Katherine Jackson

Got any earth-moving quotes or sayings that have rocked your world? Let me know.