Monday, November 20, 2006

Magnificent Monday Motivators

Magnificent Monday Motivatorssm ~
Honoring Gratitude and Appreciation

Honoring gratitude and appreciation is a powerful gift we give ourselves and others. Some of you reading this may be thinking that to extend gratitude and appreciation to someone or something is a form of honoring. And you are correct. Just as with anything else, mindfulness is the key.

It is quite easy to thank someone at the moment of a kindness or appreciate a beautiful sunset. Think about it, though, aren’t most of the things you say thanks for related to an outer experience? Of course, we want to ensure that those two powerful words, “Thank You”, don’t become a cliché, similar to “have a nice day”.

Two quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho come to mind as I write this.



“…when each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize
the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises…”

“He was learning a lot of new things. Some of them were things he had already experienced, and weren’t really new but he had never perceived before. And he hadn’t perceived them because he had become accustomed to them…”


As I reflect on the meaning of these words, I easily see how honoring gratitude and appreciation become so much more important in our lives. Two specific reasons come to mind.

  1. You get what you focus on in life. So it makes sense that focusing on honoring gratitude and appreciation will bring forth more things to be thankful for and appreciate. Your antenna will be tuning your frequency to see and receive your intended focus, similar to a radio.
  2. You are focusing on higher-level vibrations, which can carry over to other areas of your life, relationships and work. If you have seen the movies, What the Bleep Do We Know and The Secret, you have an idea of how focusing on higher-level feelings and vibrations work. David Hawkins also discusses this in his book, Power vs. Force.

Here are several ways to enrich and empower your life by:

Honoring gratitude and appreciation with others, in general:

  • Be specific.
  • Share your comments as close to the time/event as possible.
  • Look at the person when you are face-to-face.
  • Remember many people are not used to, or comfortable, with receiving positive praise. Extend your gratitude and appreciation anyway.
  • Stop talking after stating what you have to say. No need to explain, be clear and to the point.
Honoring gratitude and appreciation with family:
  • Follow the above suggestions.
  • Avoid mixing positive and negative messages.
  • Make it a habit to offer many more positive messages, remember you get what you focus on.
Honoring gratitude and appreciation with yourself (yes, you read correctly):
  • Treat yourself and your efforts with the same level of respect, gratitude and appreciation as you would anyone else.
  • Take time, on a regular basis, to notice and acknowledge what is good (interactions with people), true (what is showing up at the present time) and beautiful (what are you doing for yourself/expressions of self-care) in you life. Note: this has become a powerful part of my evening ritual.
  • Pause to reflect on your life — experiences, events, relationships, intentions, accomplishments, etc. — with special attention and emphasis on where you are now, where you have been, how far you have come, what you discovered along the way, along with how you have grown. Birthdays, the New Year, with the change of seasons or during the new moon are all good times to engage in this process. By the way, this is a no judgment, non-critical zone.
My wish for you is that you discover how honoring gratitude and appreciation leads to many beautiful, magical moments, gifts and blessings. May you enjoy the journey.


Antoinette

P.S. One of the more powerful and enlightening moments in my life was when I genuinely felt grateful for everything in my life and my history. This included experiences that some would call negative, painful, harsh, difficult, even insurmountable. One piece of insight shared with me several years ago was, “events in life are neutral, we give them meaning.” Gratitude and appreciation helped me to change the meaning I had given my life.



(c) 2006 Antoinette S. Webster. All rights reserved. www.ASystemthatWorks.com





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