Count Your Blessings for a Happier You!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. 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. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

For many people holidays, milestone events and special occasions are filled with elaborate meals, festive music and quality time shared with family and friends. However, for some people, these joyous moments are painful, lonely and difficult. These individuals have become disillusioned by the idealization of what a perfect moment is supposed to look like by focusing on the negative aspects of life. They are unable to see the hidden power of true joy through the simple act of gratitude. What does it mean to be thankful? How does an individual cultivate a thankful heart to establish a lifestyle of gratitude despite disappointments?

Being Thankful

A thankful person is one who expresses gratitude for gifts received. It sounds so easy to simply choose to be thankful, but let's go a little deeper into thankfulness. It means to purposefully embrace life by having a mindset of gratitude and showing appreciation towards the simplest every day gifts, even when life throws an unexpected curve ball resulting in disappointment, hurt or pain. It is not always an easy decision to make, but the benefits of having a thankful heart can be empowering.

Thankfulness Matters

According to Dr. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California and expert on the science of gratitude, being thankful has a variety of health and emotional benefits which have the power to transform, heal and invigorate lives.

Some of these benefits include:

• increased emotional well-being & happiness
• increased energy
• increased desire to take better care of oneself through exercise
• decreased stress and depression
• fewer symptoms of personal ailments
• determination to make progress and finish goals
• strengthened empathy and social interaction
• improved sleep

With benefits such as these it's easy to see why being thankful is crucial. There are daily exercises which develop and cultivate an "attitude of gratitude" and will empower you to live a healthier lifestyle - starting today.

Count Your Blessings

Dr. Emmons stresses the importance of taking a few minutes to reflect and write down all that you are thankful for each day. By collecting these blessings in a consolidated place such as a journal, diary or notepad you are taking action towards transforming your life and improving your well-being.

Another thanksgiving exercise is a visual daily reminder. Write on sticky notes what you are thankful for and place them in easy to view places in the home. For example: my life, children, home, friends, and work. When you see the note, stop and take time to speak it out loud. Read it slow and intentional, repeating it two or three times, so the message sinks in. Practice this exercise daily. Eventually it will become spontaneous and thanksgiving will suddenly break out as you view a beautiful sunset or spend time with family or friends.

View Each Day as a Gift

Maintaining a positive mindset towards the practice of expressing gratitude requires not only internal reflection, but also viewing the world outside of yourself by choosing to see the good in your surroundings. People who express gratitude have the capacity to be empathic and respect the perspective of others. They tend to be more generous and helpful to people in their social circles. People with a thankful heart reap benefits emotionally, physically and in relationships.

Being aware that each moment is a gift and not a given will help you on this journey of gratitude. Overall, counting your blessings is a choice to view your surroundings with an open mind and an open heart by seeing the beauty despite the struggles or circumstances. Are you ready to create change and take control of your life by developing a thankful heart?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Count-Your-Blessings-for-a-Happier-You!&id=9289284

10 Simple Steps to a Happier You

How to bring a little bliss in your life using the acronym GREAT DREAM

Follow these 10 steps—an easy acronym, GREAT DREAM—to sprinkle some happy into your life and the lives of others.

1. GIVING

Do things for others.

Caring about others is fundamental to our happiness. Helping other people is not only good for them and a great thing to do, but it also makes us happier and healthier, too. Giving also creates stronger connections between people and helps to build a happier society for everyone. And it’s not all about money—we can also give our time, ideas and energy. So if you want to feel good, do good!

What are your most important goals?

2. RELATING

Connect with people.

Relationships are the most important overall contributor to happiness. People with strong and broad social relationships are happier, healthier and live longer. Close relationships with family and friends provide love, meaning and support, and increase our feelings of self-worth. Broader networks bring a sense of belonging. So taking action to strengthen our relationships and create new connections is essential for happiness.

Who matters most to you?

3. EXERCISING

Take care of your body.

Our body and our mind are connected. Being active makes us happier as well as being good for our physical health. It instantly improves our mood and can even lift us out of a depression. We don’t all need to run marathons; there are simple things we can all do to be more active each day. We can also boost our well-being by unplugging from technology, getting outside and making sure we get enough sleep!

How do you stay active and healthy?

4. APPRECIATING

Notice the world around you.

Ever felt that there must be more to life? Well, good news, there is! And it’s right here in front of us. We just need to stop and take notice. Learning to be more mindful and aware can do wonders for our well-being in all areas of life—like our walk to work, the way we eat or our relationships. It helps us get in tune with our feelings and stops us dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, so we get more out of the day-to-day.

When do you stop and take notice?

5. TRYING OUT

Keep learning new things.

Learning affects our well-being in lots of positive ways. It exposes us to new ideas and helps us stay curious and engaged. It also gives us a sense of accomplishment and helps boost our self-confidence and resilience. There are many ways to learn new things—not just through formal qualifications. We can share a skill with friends, join a club, learn to sing, play a new sport and so much more.

What new things have you tried recently?

6. DIRECTION

Have goals to look forward to.

Feeling good about the future is important for our happiness. We all need goals to motivate us, and these need to be challenging enough to excite us, but also achievable. If we try to attempt the impossible, it brings unnecessary stress. Choosing ambitious but realistic goals gives our lives direction and brings a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when we achieve them.

What are your most important goals?

7. RESILIENCE

Find ways to bounce back.

All of us have times of stress, loss, failure or trauma in our lives. But how we respond to these has a big impact on our well-being. We often cannot choose what happens to us, but we can choose our own attitude to what happens. In practice it’s not always easy, but one of the most exciting findings from recent research is that resilience, like many other life skills, can be learned.

How do you bounce back in tough times?

8. EMOTION

Take a positive approach.

Positive emotions—such as joy, gratitude, contentment, inspiration and pride—are not just great at the time. Recent research shows that regularly experiencing them creates an “upward spiral,” helping to build our resources. So although we need to be realistic about life’s ups and downs, it helps tofocus on the good aspects of any situation—the glass half-full rather than the glass half-empty.

What are you feeling good about?

9. ACCEPTANCE

Be comfortable with who you are.

No one’s perfect. But so often we compare our insides to other people’s outsides. Dwelling on our flaws—what we’re not rather than what we’ve got—makes it much harder to be happy. Learning to accept ourselves, warts and all, and being kinder to ourselves when things go wrong increases our enjoyment of life, our resilience and our well-being. It also helps us accept others as they are.

What is the real you like?

10. MEANING

Be part of something bigger.

People who have meaning and purpose in their lives are happier, feel more in control and get more out of what they do. They also experience less stress, anxiety and depression. But where do we find “meaning and purpose”? It might be our religious faith, being a parent or doing a job that makes a difference. The answers vary for each of us, but they all involve being connected to something bigger than  ourselves.

http://www.success.com/article/10-simple-steps-to-a-happier-you