HI all,
Apologize for the long break as this month has been a hectic month.Well this topic of 'SELF APPRECIATION' is an important element of GRATITUDE
First and foremost, GRATITUDE is an important element and a powerful tool which can neutralize your emotions on a daily basis.I do it daily and it take less than 5 minutes.This 'GRATITUDE' exercise helps me to neutralize my thoughts and puts me in the state of 'flow' ,on a day to day basis.I would recommend all the readers to do this 'Gratitude' exercise, first thing in the morning before you start your day.Its important to not bring any luggage (thoughts) from yesterday so that you can go through your day which is 'today' peacefully and calmly.
Remember :
YESTERDAY'S NEWSPAPER IS TODAY'S WASTE PAPER !!!!
As per my experience, this 'GRATITUDE' exercise is very powerful because it puts you in a mode of thanking GOD for all that you have.It will some how align your thoughts to go within and identify every single thing that you are gifted with.By doing this, you will indirectly disconnect your thoughts from the issues that you are facing at the moment.So your emotions will be more in a 'Thanking' mode rather than 'Picking on issue' mode.This emotions will definitely have a huge influence on your day.
So now, what is SELF APPRECIATION compared to GRATITUDE.Well they are very similar BUT there is a little difference, which makes a huge impact on your emotions.As per my little knowledge, GRATITUDE is more of thanking GOD for whatever we have,it can be your wealth, your assets, your relationship, kids and etc.So its more of 'external' factors (than your own self) which makes you happy.
Based on my opinion, SELF APPRECIATION is more focused on yourself.This 'self appreciation' exercise can be part of your gratitude exercise daily but its more focused on yourself .This exercise creates a platform for you to think about your goodself.It can be anything...it can be the characteristics of yourself , it can be your physical appearance, it can be your good heart.It can be anything and everything but it has to be about yourself.
Every day,I will start my day with GRATITUDE exercise and it goes like this...
I will thank GOD for my family,my wife,my kids, my job,my car and the list goes on.Sometimes I will go more into details such as thanking GOD for my body, my legs,my heart which are functioning well.I don't stop there!!!I will also thank GOD for the thoughts that is appearing in my mind and thank him for giving me the heart to serve the society.At times when i get too excited, I will do crazy things such as thanking my legs for bringing me everywhere, thanking my eye for giving me vision and it goes on.So it doesn't actually have to be the things that you 'HAVE' but it can also be things that 'YOU ARE'
As crazy as it sounds..this exercise gives you a very deep connection to yourself and puts you in an "APPRECIATION" mode all the time.So when you appreciate your good self more, the whole energy around you changes and you will be guided to the path of positivity rather than negativity.
Simple example is:
You can always complain about your weight, your looks and etc but at the same time you can also thank GOD for the beautiful smile you have.I don't think anyone in this world looks bad when they smile :-)..
So its always an option....
an option to appreciate what you ARE and what you HAVE
or
an option to keep worrying about all those things which you don't have..
Give it a thought guys, its just a 5 minutes exercise which can change your life
