Hakoras Hatov- Recognizing (And Acknowledging) the Good

Motek

Sun, Jul 31 2005, 6:54 pm

6. Keep a gratitude journal.

Thinking about gratitude is wonderful. But writing down what you are grateful for in a journal will have a much stronger effect.
Seeing the items adding up on paper, gives you an ever-increasing realization that you have much for which to be grateful. Some find it beneficial to make a quota of at least five or ten things a day.

Whenever you want an emotional lift, take out your journal and read it.

7. Be grateful for all your skills, abilities, talents, knowledge, inner resources and outer resources.

As I am typing this, I am grateful that I can type and I am grateful to my mother for teaching me how to type when I was a young boy. When you read this, be grateful that you know how to read and that you are adding gratitude as one of your precious inner resources.

8. Be grateful for your memory and brain.

The latest estimate is that we all have over 100 billion brain cells. Wherever you go, your brain with all its memories of gratitude go with you. You can access those life-enhancing memories any time you wish.
What do you hear more often, people complaining about their memory or people being grateful for their magnificent, miraculous giant computer? The amount of memory the average person has stored in such a small area is mind-boggling.
Some people tend to be upset by what they can’t remember. Whenever you can’t remember something, immediately, say to yourself, “I am grateful for all that I do remember.”

9. Whenever you hear a telephone ringing, say to yourself, “I am grateful I am alive and I am grateful I can hear.”

The more often you will hear telephones ringing, the easier it will be for you to increase your level of gratitude.

10. Associate the word gratitude with: happiness, joy, bliss, euphoria, ecstasy.

How do you do this? Whenever you feel positive feelings of gratitude, enthusiastically say, “Happiness, joy, bliss, euphoria, ecstasy.” If you want to make this really work well, look in a mirror as you do so. Think thoughts of gratitude and see the smile of gratitude on your face.

As you keep applying these 10 formulas, you will create yourself into a happy, grateful person.

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© 2005 Zelig Pliskin (You can reprint this article as long as you keep the copyright notice and the book source.)

This article is based on Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s new book: “THANK YOU!; Gratitude: Formulas, Stories, and Insights. Artscroll has transformed the book into “The Ultimate Thank You Card.” www.artscroll.com/Books/tyoup.html