Just this morning, I was returning a rental car at LAX. I didn’t have much time before my flight was scheduled to depart to SFO. As I stepped out of the rental car, the attendant asked me what time my flight was. I told her and she said, “You have less than an hour.” Then she told me to put my bags back in the car and said, “I will drive you to the airport.” I just couldn’t believe it. She took me to the airport and I made my flight. I was truly grateful to the attendant for her generosity and concern.
In the process of getting stronger and facing our fears, we have to exercise our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. I exercise my spirit by being thankful and living in a perpetual state of gratitude. Just like your body and mind, gratitude is a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to stay in shape.
As I flew from LAX to SFO this morning, my companion, Tim Sanders, the author of the book Today We are Rich had some pretty good advice as to how be grateful all the time. Confession: Tim Sanders wasn’t physically traveling with me, but his book was. Tim says that the muscle of gratitude has to be flexed and workout out constantly. His three-step process for exercising your gratitude muscle is as follows:
Tuning In: I interpret this as picking the low hanging fruit. It doesn’t require much, and it’s something we can do all on our own. Every night before you close your eyes, think about what you are thankful for on that particular day. You’ll find that it’s easy to pinpoint many of the things that improve your life, as well as the people that, in one way or another, helped you through the day. You might think of the checker that packed your groceries, or your wonderful spouse. If you do this everyday, your mind will get used to looking for things to be thankful for; you will be exercising your gratitude muscle.
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Digging Deeper: This is a great exercise I just learned. The point is to take on a different perspective. What would others think of your current situation? Imagine you are away vardenafil prices from work and crammed into an airplane with little sleep. You post a picture of yourself at the airport on your Facebook page. How would people react? Most likely, many would love to be in your place, seeing the world, albeit crammed into an airplane. Many of us spend a lot of time coveting and yearning for what others have, when if we just stop to recognize our own good fortune, we learn to be thankful for the basic things in our lives that we already enjoy.
Expressing Thanks: This is the last step, and it is about expression. It’s one thing to be thankful, but it’s another to be able to express your thanks. This is where karma builds up. Giving thanks to people for the good they bring to your life is an amazing exercise that will strengthen your gratitude muscle. Many people don’t get this kind of gratitude often, simply because we tend to take our families, friends, employers, etc. for granted. One way you can do this is to think of someone in your life who did something awesome for you in the past and simply write him or her a thank you note. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the responses I get are amazing. The key is that you are always on the lookout for someone to thank. This is the state in which the magic happens and your gratitude muscle will grow and become stronger.
Interestingly, research also suggests that gratitude will boost our health and well-being. Dr. Robert Emmons at the University of California Davis conducted a study in which he tracked people who keep gratitude journals. The results showed that people who were living in a constant state of gratitude had much less physical ailments, felt better about their lives, and expressed a greater optimism about the future. These people were also more outgoing and enjoyed better moods than the control group. These findings confirm that being in a state of gratitude will make you stronger, not only spiritually, but also physically. As Tim Sanders writes, “When your gratitude muscle is strong, your confidence will soar. You recognize you have a community around that wants to help.”
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