Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to give thanks

Gray wolf (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may have heard this well known legend before:

A Cherokee elder was teaching his children about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to them. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandchildren thought about it and after a minute one of them asked, “Which wolf will win?”

The elder simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I believe this to be true.  That’s why it’s important to spend time thinking about the good things, those things that you are thankful for.  Spending time thinking or talking about these positives is like feeding them.  The more you dwell on wonderful things, the more wonderful things you will find.

Thanksgiving is a time when we are reminded to practice this gratefulness – but thanksgiving only comes around once a year – don’t wait for that one day to feed the good wolf.

 

Exercise your mind

Happiness (Photo credit: baejaar)

When I was a kid, we were taught our times tables in math class.  We reviewed the times tables many many times, we were quizzed on them, played games about them etc.  Now, even though it has been many years since I learned these mathematical skills, I am able to recall them with relative ease.  You can do the same thing with your attitude.

Do you feel like “poor me, why do bad things always happen to me?”  The more time you spend dwelling on the bad things that happen and the bad feelings associated with these things, the more you are engraining these bad thoughts and feelings into your brain.  Just like recalling previously learned math skills, you brain will recall the bad things and emotions readily.

If instead of focusing on the negative aspects, you spend your energy thinking of the positive things, these positive things and emotions will tend to be recalled more readily in the future.  You might be thinking that there is nothing positive to take from a given situation.  Sometimes things can be bad.  Maybe the most positive thing you can take from it is that you learned something from it, or that it’s over.  Maybe this would be a good time to think like Denis Prager who said;

“Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.”

Spend time every day thinking about the things that you are grateful for.  The more time you spend on these positive thoughts, the more readily these happy thoughts will be recalled – just like those times tables from elementary school.

“When we are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.” Anthony Robins

All this thinking about the positives will make you a happier person.  It will also make your interactions with others more positive too.  Win Win!

Check out this other blogger’s thoughts on the subject: http://kimolgren.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/an-attitude-of-gratitude/