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DGFOWLER's Recent Blog Entries
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Sunday, December 05, 2010
Do you dedicate time daily to be grateful?
It's never too late...
It doesn't matter if you have felt depressed, angry, moody, or jealous recently or are feeling any negativity now; it's never too late to start enjoying the many benefits of being grateful.
You can stop at any time and take two minutes to be thankful for all that exists in your life; difficult circumstances too, for they make you grow and become the full person you are.
I know it is not easy to see through bad times. However, you can look back at all the difficult moments of your life and appreciate what you got out of it: a lesson, a "tougher skin", even simply the experience that will make you make better choices in the future.
The importance of being grateful
These are some of the benefits of being grateful:
1. It helps you to be in the present by noticing what you do have and stopping to acknowledge it. This can be the company of a person, having food, or even being able to see.
2. Being grateful has the power of changing your mood almost instantly from negative to positive. Good feelings and positive energy arise when you start acknowledging what you are grateful for.
3. It generates good vibrations. Quantum physics applied to positive thinking state that the vibrations of your thoughts affect and modify the reality around you.
You can see the importance of being grateful when you realize that you can use thankful feelings to achieve what you desire.
On the right track
Sometimes we allow our negative emotions to rule us and affect our mood. At these times it may appear difficult to actually feel thankful for anything.
If that happens to you, think about this: things could always be much worst (I'm not just saying: do hold the thought).
Whatever your circumstances, they can always be even more difficult. Think about the fact that they are not so and look at the positive side of your reality.
For example: so you have a few back problems. Right, but you are also able to walk.
We create a shift in our thoughts and moods when we reflect on what we are thankful for.
The tip
Even if you are feeling negative when you start looking at what you are grateful for, you won't be able to hold the negative emotion for very long.
You can make being grateful one of your positive habits as you understand the importance of being grateful.
You can also choose to write a list of at least ten things you are grateful for at the end of your day.
This will put you in a good mood before going to sleep and will help you to welcome the next day with an open and grateful attitude.
Furthermore, you could keep a gratitude journal to create progressively a more permanent grateful attitude.
"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Oprah Winfrey
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be able to maintain a relatively positive attitude regardless of what’s happening around them? Like everyone, they can appreciate the good times, but they also seem to be able to focus on the positive in the face of some pretty negative events. They see the good in difficult people, they see the opportunity in a challenging situation, and they appreciate what they have, even in the face of loss. Would you like to increase your ability to maintain a positive attitude in your life, even in the face of significant stress?
Fortunately, a positive attitude can be cultivated, with a little practice. Although we are born with specific temperamental tendencies, the brain is a muscle, and you can strengthen your mind’s natural tendency toward optimism if you work at it.
While several factors go into emotional resilience and optimism, studies show that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in daily life and contribute to greater emotional well-being and bring social benefits as well. Cultivating gratitude is one of the simpler routes to a greater sense of emotional well-being, and can be accomplished in several ways. For the next few weeks, try some of the following exercises, and you should notice a significant increase in your feelings of gratitude -— you will likely find yourself noticing more positive things in your life, dwelling less on negative or stressful events and feelings of ‘lack,’ and having a greater sense of appreciation for the people and things in your life.
Make Gentle Reminders
When you notice yourself grumbling about a negative event or stressor in your life, try to think of 4 or 5 related things for which you are grateful. For example, when feeling stressed at work, try to think about several things that you like about your job. You can do the same with relationship stress, financial stress, or other daily hassles. The more you gently remind yourself of the positives, the more easily a shift toward gratitude can occur.
Be Careful With Comparisons
Many people cause themselves unnecessary stress by making comparisons. More specifically, they cause themselves stress by making the wrong comparisons. They compare themselves only to those who have more, do more, or are in some way closer to their ideals, and allow themselves to feel inferior instead of inspired. In cultivating gratitude, you have one of two options if you find yourself making such comparisons: You can either choose to compare yourself to people who have less than you (which reminds you how truly rich and lucky you are), or you can feel gratitude for having people in your life who can inspire you. Either road can lead away from stress and envy, and closer to feelings of gratitude.
Keep a Gratitude Journal
One of the best ways to cultivate gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal. Not only are you combining the benefits of journaling with the active adoption of a more positive mindset, you are left with a nice catalog of happy memories and a long list of things in your life for which you are grateful. (This can be wonderful to read during times when it’s more difficult to remember what these things are.) Keeping a gratitude journal is simple; see this gratitude journal article for ideas on different ways to maintain one.
Because habits are usually formed within two or three weeks, you will have to actively focus on maintaining gratitude less and less as you go, and the habit of a more positive (and less stress-inducing) attitude will be more automatic. And greater feelings of emotional well-being can be yours.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
I sometimes need a good kick in the pants, don’t you? Like everyone, I have days where I don’t feel like doing what I know I need to do.
Where do I turn during times like these? I launch my RSS reader and pull up my favorite motivational blogs.
These are the best of the best because it’s one thing for someone to tell you what to do, it’s another thing for them to take their own advice! This is a list of some of the hardest working self development blogs and bloggers – who not only talk the talk, they walk the walk. Many of them have day jobs and families and still take time almost every day to give you their best.
I suggest you check them out and add them to your list of motivational resources.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
We’re often told, “You should sleep on it” before you make an important decision. Why is that? How does “sleeping on it” help your decision-making process?
Conventional wisdom suggests that by “sleeping on it,” we clear our minds and relieve ourselves of the immediacy (and accompanying stress) of making a decision. Sleep also helps organize our memories, process the information of the day, and solve problems. Such wisdom also suggests that conscious deliberation helps decision making in general. Our unconscious also plays a role in this scenario.
Think about it. Our unconsciousness plays a role in sleep. We cannot control it. It relieves sometimes of the heckticness of the day, takes away our stress so hen we wake up we do have that different perspective. I find that counting to ten or walking away is the trick for me. That gives me an immediate fix.
What do you think about "Sleeping on it?" Donna
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
When you decide that you want to take the real journey, the aware and self correcting path, you accept conscience as your guide rather than escape from it into all manner of sensuality and distractions. Your conscience is your guide, telling you turn left, turn right,watch out, that was wrong, etc. It is the guiding light and force in any person that wants to pursue life's true path.
That is what my conscience tells me as I take my journey. It makes me more aware of what I need to do for myself. The choice I need to make. It even tells me when I've eaten something wrong, because that nagging little voice pops up, sits on my shoulder, and says "What the heck you think yer doin'? "Ya need to get back on track sister" "No one can do this but you, not get your rear in gear".. Yep.. that's what a conscience does. It haunts ya.. 
But, that conscience also tells you when you are doing a good job. It pats you on the back and makes you proud of your accomplishments. Just like some habits are good for you, so is having a good conscience and letting it be your guide..
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helps to squelch impulsivity! Woohoo!!!
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
Happy Holiday! 
Rose
One day a time!