Inspired Ideas: A Grateful Heart

There were days this week when my mood just took a turn toward unhappy, and it wasn’t going to change. I was smiling in an attempt to have a fake it ’til I felt it type of moment. But my ever so slight frustrated feeling kept creeping back in.

Sometimes this happens because I’m just not having a very good day. Everything I don’t want to happen is happening, and it’s happening all at once. Why does this always tend to occur? Other times, my confidence and complete and total belief that something is going to work is shaken ever so slightly. It’s one of those moments when I wonder if I should keep following one path toward my end goal or veer off and see what happens.

In both of these cases, I tend to start asking the “what if” questions. Those questions can become endless, overwhelming, and really tiring. But not every question I think about in either of these situations is bad. In fact, there’s one that I’ve quickly learned helps to calm my mind and refocus my heart…

Three things – write them down in front of you so you can see them and glance at them throughout the day, or just think about them. The goal here is quick (as in 30 seconds or less) grateful thoughts, which is part of the reason why I don’t focus on my life at large. Instead, I think of three things from that day in particular that have been positive because I’m a firm believer that there is something good in every day.  The things I’m grateful for tend to be really simple – a new song I downloaded from a favorite artist, a sweet email from a friend, teaching kids how to play tennis that night – and each reminds me that the entire day is not bad; it’s just that situation.

Each and every time I do this, I feel better. And if that day’s frustration returns, I think of three new things and focus in on them. There’s power in positive thinking whether it provides a couple moments of clarity or fixes your entire day.

So what are three things you’re grateful for today? Ready? GO!