Coffee with a special friend this morning reminded me of something very important that I had let slide.  I tend to worry about things, big things, small things, and generally anything!  In the past year of being a mum, I’ve found all sorts of new things to worry about too, which isn’t so great for my peace of mind.  It’s easy to slip into that worried state and forget to come back out though!  So this morning in a conversation about life, I was reminded about the power of gratitude.

Let me explain, say you’re wondering where the last year went and feeling a bit overwhelmed that life is passing by a little too quickly, or you’re counting the days until payday as you’ve a little less in the bank than you’d like.  Instead of focusing on the time gone, or money spent, turn it on it’s head and think of the memories you’ve made in that time, or the things you’ve bought with that money.  So in the first instance, you’ve maybe had special days with someone special, lazy mornings, new experiences, a stronger bond with a loved one.  Or in the case of feeling broke until payday, think what you’ve spent that money on, ie you put food in your fridge to feed your family, oil to heat your home, mortgage/rent payments to give your family a safe place to sleep at night and call home, special days out and again – memories made with experiences you’ve paid for.

The exercise turns your focus away from feeling the pain of lack and moves you towards feeling of gratitude.  We all know like attracts like and gratitude attracts more things to be grateful for, so lack of it attracts the opposite.  By letting your mind get caught up in a continuous flow of negativity, you are blocking good experiences and inviting more negative things into your life.

I’ll leave you with a 12 min video from the amazing Tony Robbins….