How do you get more of everything you want? Be grateful for what you have. Please forgive me, dear reader, for I don’t mean to be trite. But, I have seen the effects both in my work with my clients, as well as personally. When we focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t have, we are happier. Whether it’s being a better flirt, having more money, going skiing, or finding a partner, we want all of these for the same reason, because we think they will make us happier. I am not saying they won’t, but being grateful for what you currently have, is an excellent way to start feeling happier right now. Energy flows where attention goes.

I challenge all of you to begin a gratitude journal. For one month, every morning or night, write down 5 things that you are grateful for that day. It can be as simple as ‘The delicious flat white from Monocle’. I would like to leave you with this lovely poem on gratitude.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.

It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

By Melody Beattie