Attitude of Appreciation

Photo by amahra58

No matter who we are or where we are from, there is one thing we all have in common.  We all seek happiness with everything we do in life.  No matter what we are doing, we do it in order to gain pleasure, happiness, or avoid pain and avoiding pain is just another way of seeking happiness.

In our current culture of achievement, it seems that everybody is always setting goals and doing more in order to get more.  It’s always about more more more.  We set goals, achieve them, celebrate and set a new goal.

There is a problem with this thought pattern though.  Everybody gets into the habit of constantly working toward an end goal and only taking time to enjoy life when a goal is achieved.  Then the celebration ends and we move onto a new goal.

This means that most of us who buy into the achievement culture are only celebrating, or enjoying life when we have achieved a goal.  Which leads me to the question?  Why are we working so hard to find more happiness and only enjoying it for a little while before setting a new goal?  Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the goal achievement?

The problem seems to be that we don’t appreciate what we actually have now until it’s gone.  Otherwise we keep achieving and setting more goals.  But what would life be like if we could enjoy what we have now while still attaining for more?  My guess is, life would be a joy.

It’s really not as hard as people make it to just appreciate the things we have now.  Think about it.  What would your life be like if you didn’t have TV, Computer, Phones, Cars, even simpler stuff like nice shoes or clothes.  Wouldn’t you miss these things if they were gone?  Why not consciously appreciate them now.  Find things you have now in your life and begin to appreciate them.

My Personal Experience:

I tend to get caught up in achievement thinking and I take things in life for granted.  I was reminded of all that I had, and currently have to appreciate when my long time relationship ended.

It seems we never appreciate someone as much as when they are gone.  We still remain friends, so it wasn’t ugly, but not having her here has reminded me of all that I could have appreciated.  So I have started by ending each night with about 5-10 minutes of deliberate appreciation.  I think of all the things in my life and things that happened during the day that I can be appreciative of.  This usually helps me break from the stressful routine of the day and change my state of mind before I lie down in bed.  It has improved my mindset dramatically.

It’s said that an attitude of appreciation will bring you more things to appreciate.  If you try it out for a few days, you’ll find this to be true.

Do yourself a favor, take a few moments at the end of the day and just appreciate some of the things you have in life right now.  It will improve your life, your attitude and will remind you that you always have something to be grateful for, no matter what’s happening in your life.

Have a wonderful Day!

Ryan

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