GRATITUDE: THE FIRST SECRET OF HAPPINESS: INVINCIBLE YOU SPECIAL EDITION

There are secrets to Happiness; time-honored lessons for finding true contentment and lasting joy.  In our latest podcast, Love University, Invincible You, Special Edition, we learned about one of the most important secrets to finding happiness:  Gratitude.  Gratitude is a warm feeling of thankfulness toward others, the world, and a Higher Nature. Happy people are grateful, at all times. On this week’s show, we learned some wonderful lessons about gratefulness from Master Tanaka, the protagonist in our modern fable of personal transformation, The 3 Secrets of Happiness. Here is what we learned:

 

*Gratitude is Living in the Now, in the Present Moment.  To have Gratitude fill your heart, simply appreciate everything that you are experiencing right now.  Instead of dwelling on the past (regrets) or future (worries), keep your thoughts on the now. Express a deep caring and thankfulness for all of the good things in your life at this very moment: friendship, love, family, creativity, contribution, pleasurable and fun experiences, all of the modern conveniences and advantages of our technological world, and life itself.  

 

“Be Grateful Even for Even the “Bad” Things in Your Life. Your gratitude will skyrocket when you can find gratitude in even the most difficult of life circumstances.  It’s easy to be grateful for the benefits and rewards of life. But how about the difficult and painful things; can you be grateful for those too?  If you can, your gratitude will grow exponentially. The key is to find the positive in the negative.  If you’re in a traffic jam, for example, be grateful that you have extra time to think, meditate, pray, or listen to music—you might get a great idea while you’re in traffic. If you’re dealing with a rude or inconsiderate person, be grateful that you can learn the reverse lesson—how not to be.  You can learn tolerance and forgiveness from the judgmental person; you can learn peace from the angry person. All you have to do is decide to be the opposite of what they are. In this way, nothing you experience is wasted. Even the worst of circumstances (losses, setbacks) have a lesson to teach you so you can improve your life.

 

*Recite a Gratitude Mantra Daily.  Every day, repeat a gratitude phrase to yourself, something like: “I am grateful for my breath, my life, and for this day. I am grateful for all I have experienced, or will experience. I am grateful for those I love because true love keeps growing and growing. I am grateful for those who are hateful because they teach me compassion and forgiveness.  I am grateful for my successes because they are my inheritance from the Higher Nature. I am grateful for my failures because they are the Universe’s way of keeping me humble so that, when I do experience ultimate success, I will appreciate it even more.”

 

*Keep a Gratitude Journal.  In a pad or notebook, write down three things you’re grateful for every day. They can be small things like your deodorant, your toothpaste, or your favorite clothes. Or, they can be big things like your loved ones, your career, your body, your health, and your life.  When you do this consistently, you will significantly increase your happiness level and even sleep better. Try it for a month and you will see that keeping a gratitude journal can work wonders in your life.

 

Yes, happiness is within your reach. You can bring consistent joy into your life by following the powerful principles of gratitude: be grateful in the moment, be grateful for what you call “bad,”  recite a gratitude mantra, and keep a gratitude journal.  When you do these things, you will see your joy rising, and your peace growing. At its core, the principle of gratitude is simple: Be grateful for everything that happens to you, whether you call it important or unimportant; good or bad. Gratitude covers all; it doesn’t distinguish or discriminate between things, people, and events. Gratitude is simply a pure, flowing feeling of joy, peace, love, serenity, and excitement—all wrapped up on one delicious package of delight. With Gratitude in your heart, you will always win.