Of all the presents you open this season don’t forget to be grateful for the most important one of all—your life!

By Alison Greiner

Moments of thankfulness and appreciation open our hearts to happiness, fill us with delight and unite us with each other and ourselves. Practicing gratitude is a daily exercise that will change your life!

Research shows that daily gratitude exercises play a significant role in a person’s sense of well-being. When you are thankful for what you have, you become contented, while wanting more leaves us feeling empty and unfulfilled. Having more doesn’t always bring happiness in the long run. The new car, the new wardrobe, the new home and the new vacation will not always be new, and the initial high will fade. Human nature is to want more, which is what motivates you to keep trying, but when you only focus on more, more, more, you lose sight of the gifts in the present. Your focus is on what you don’t have and you do not experience the fullness of what you do have.

The benefits of gratitude
The Research Project on Gratitude and Thanksgiving, a study involving several hundred people, revealed that people who practiced daily gratitude experienced:

• enhanced spirituality
• improved sleep
• feeling more connected to others
• fewer symptoms of illness
• higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy
• less depression and stress
• more likely to help others
• exercised more regularly
• made more progress toward personal goals
• more likely to feel loved

There are some simple techniques you can follow to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

Morning and evening gratitude
Have you ever stood by a pond and looked in to see your reflection? When the wind is blowing, the reflection of you is blurred and out of focus. The wind must be calm and nature must be at peace to bring the true reflection into focus. Life can be like that too; we often get consumed by the day’s hectic schedule and lose sight of reality. Being at peace and letting the wind calm will allow you to focus on the true reflection of your life.

Starting your morning of with five minutes of appreciation and reflection of the many blessings you have will jump start your day in a positive way! See the gifts in the bed on which you sleep, the roof that is above your head and the special people in your life. Spending five minutes reflecting before bed will allow you to focus on the wonderful day you had and on the day’s blessings, even if you find them in life’s challenges.

Keep track of your progress and score yourself on this new gratitude practice with the Truestar Daily Life Improvement Checklist. This checklist will change your life, as it educates you on the daily habits necessary to acquire success and scores you each day to keep you on the right track.

"Don’t complain because you don’t have…Enjoy what you’ve got."
- H. Stanley Judd

In Life’s Greatest Lessons, Hal Urban had his high school and university students go 24 hours without complaining. His results helped to prove that philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s claim that “we seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack,” may be true.

For the next 24 hours challenge yourself to not complain at all. If you do complain (which most people do) don’t give up on the challenge; keep a piece of paper with you and write down every time you complain and see if you can get less than the average six to twelve complaints per day.

Out of more than 70,000 people Hal Urban has challenged, only four didn’t complain.

Focus on the positive
A gratitude journal has been widely publicized since Oprah Winfrey spoke of the importance it has played in her life. An attitude of gratitude can be cultivated. We don’t have to wait for presents to be thankful; we can develop gratitude by giving thanks for the gifts we already have. You can purchase a gratitude journal, or use a piece of paper or your diary to record all of the things and people you are thankful for. Review this list during your five-minute morning and evening gratitude sessions or any time during the day.

I spy with my little eye…gratitude
For visual people, a gratitude collage is a wonderful exercise to do alone or with family and has lasting rewards. This holiday season my family and I will get comfortable in front of the fire with some favorite magazines, Bristol board, scissors and glue; each of us will create a collage of things we are grateful for. We will cut out pictures and words that resemble a home, clothing, food, laughter, friends, transportation and many other things we are grateful for. We each then post it on our bedroom door, fridge or any place that is highly visible, for a daily review. I highly recommend creating a gratitude collage with children over the holiday season.

Today is a gift…
…That’s why we call it the present! Enjoy the present and find comfort through meditation. Like the reflection in the pond, you must be silent and calm to understand the whole picture of your life. Using the Truestar Meditation CDs helps you to experience the richness of the moment. Too often we look to tomorrow, but it never comes, because today is all we have. Make the Truestar Meditation CDs a part of your daily routine.

Don’t forget your magic words...Thank you!
Feeling grateful and not expressing it is like having a present and not giving it! Expressing appreciation and gratitude for people in your life will bring much happiness to you and to them. Make a list of all the people you appreciate and are thankful for; one by one, make your way through the list until you have told them all, through a card, a phone call or a hug. Soon, this expression of gratitude will become a habit.

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