I’d like to share with you a really simple tool for raising your spirit and improving your mood. Personally I find it much more powerful than gratitude. Here is the easy way to get into it. Think of anything in your life that you appreciate and say something like this: I appreciate … because … Then find something else you appreciate and do the same. Repeat it as many times as you like. You don’t have to be clever about it. I have sometimes appreciated my hair because it’s brown, or my feet because they hold up my body. It seems to work just as well. It might appear slightly artificial until you feel the effects and then you won’t worry about that. Here are some very good ways to use this approach:
- Before meditation or relaxation – it puts you into a great space for meditation.
- If you are feeling down in any way – it’s hard to stay down when you appreciate things in your life.
- Get someone else to do it if they are having a hard time – it works well with teenagers.
- If you don’t like your body very much take some time to appreciate all the different parts of your body you can think of, starting at the top and working down to your feet. Do this every day for a month and your attitude to your body will transform.
- At the beginning of spontaneous prayer.
- If you’re awake in the early hours of the morning and can’t fall asleep again.
- As a daily practice to increase your prosperity and quality of life.
Appreciation is a powerful way of attracting more of what you appreciate into your life – it acts as a powerful point of attraction. I have found that it is more effective than expressing gratitude, perhaps because gratitude still implies that you are lacking something, or waiting for it to be ‘dispensed’ to you. So I tend to express gratitude when I really feel something has been given to me, especially when it is surprising, but I prefer to appreciate all the good things in my life. It makes me feel very open and warm towards life.
Sarah McCrum
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
