Relationships Information

How To Develop A Grateful Mind


There is one sure fire medicine that cures all difficulty and opens the way for your greatest good. It allows you to sleep well at night, wake up refreshed and filled with enthusiasm. Obstacles evaporate and wonderful possibilities appear. This medicine is abundantly available, has no side effects, can be taken in large or small doses regularly. You need no one to prescribe it and the more you take, the sweeter it is. The medicine is a good dose of gratitude, taken daily, at least three times a day.

For example, if you are having difficulty in your relationships, a strong dose of gratitude will help a lot. Depression and thankfulness cannot exist in the same mind at the same time. When you are continually aware of the good you are receiving, complaints, resentments and demands become a thing of the past.

Guests At A Banquet

Some would say that this world is like a banquet in which we are guests. However, instead of thoroughly enjoying the feast, we only focus upon what is wrong - we become upset that the meal will not last forever, criticize the cook, demand one dish and refuse all others, or enjoy only desert.

Many spend their time rejecting other guests, or pushing them around. Some refuse to eat the meal entirely and go to the corner to pout. Most have no idea who their host is, or why they've even been invited. They rarely think of offering thanks.

In order to live with joy and well-being, however, it is crucial to develop a grateful mind. Here are some simple steps to take. Each step is the best medicine.

Step 1: View Your Life As A Banquet - Enjoy The Feast

Realize that we have all been invited to this banquet to develop a grateful mind. We must learn to partake of all we are offered, discover why we've been invited, and most importantly, offer thanks.

Step 2: Realize Each Person At The Banquet Is Precious

Each person at this banquet is precious and has been invited for a reason. There is something unique that each guest has to bring, including you. Find out what it is. Enjoy each person fully. If you do not know what to be grateful for, the question to ask is - what am I focusing on right now? Where is my attention?

Are you focusing upon all the problems and complaints, or are you aware of the endless gifts you receive? By taking your attention off the negative aspects of the relationship, you take energy and power away from these complaints and become open to see the good that available. As you take charge of your focus you take charge of your life.

Step 3: Take Time To Notice And Appreciate What You Are Receiving

Take time to notice and fully appreciate what is before you. Stop taking life for granted. As we develop a mind that is aware of the gifts it is receiving, the ability to give back grows naturally.

Step 4: Direct Communication

So many relationships flounder due to the feeling that individuals are not getting what they want. In many cases their partners have no idea what this is, or how to make them happy.

A wonderful way to deal with this is to ask directly for what you want. Ask without criticism or a hidden demand. It is also crucial to be able to say no. Saying no is not rejection. At times, saying no to others, is a way of saying yes to yourself.

Step 5: Understand True Giving

When you give to receive something in return, this is not true giving. Some give to hold onto others, or to feel good about themselves. True giving asks nothing in return. It gives openly, no strings attached.

True giving and receiving are one. When we give fully without wanting anything in return, we receive as much as we give. Burden, resentment and clinging falls away. There is no giver or receiver here, only an open heart. In order to taste this kind of freedom, we need only let go of our demands, criticism and expectations, and simply become one with what is happening right now. Ultimately we will see that we must just open our hands if we want to be held. C/author/2005

Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, psychologist, speaker and author's most recent book is Living By Zen, (Timeless Truths For Everyday Life) http://www.livingbyzen.com. Dr Shoshanna is a long term Zen practitioner whose work integrates Zen and everyday life, offering a new approach to life's challenges. The relationship expert on i.village.com, she is also the author of Zen Miracles (Finding Peace In An Insane World), Zen And The Art Of Falling In Love, (Simon and Schuster) and many other books. She can be contacted at topspeaker@yahoo.com


MORE RESOURCES:

dBTechno

New York AG Examines Colleges’ Relationships With Health Insurers
NextStudent, Arizona - 16 hours ago
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the relationships between colleges and the health insurance companies they do business with just two ...
New York Attorney General Investigates Relationships Between ... Kaiser network.org
Cuomo Investigating Colleges’ Deals with Health Insurers New York Times
NY Probes Student Insurance Washington Post
dBTechno - Wall Street Journal Blogs
all 13 news articles


Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces Grant Recipients for $18 ...
SYS-CON Media, NJ - 2 hours ago
With 11 sites from around the country, the Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships (BHTR) initiative will enable communities to create and ...


AASHE conference opens doors, minds to sustainable relationships
The Pendulum, NC - 42 minutes ago
by Kristin Schulz On Nov. 9, several Elon University students attended the second annual Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher ...


Farm Leasing #3: Landowner & Operator Relationships
CattleNetwork.com, KS - 2 hours ago
The operator who leases a farm becomes the steward and caretaker of that property on behalf of the landowner. The landowner’s family may have obtained the ...


Canada.com

Ancient graves yield clues to family relationships
The Associated Press - Nov 17, 2008
While tools and remains from the stone age have long been studied, there are few clues to the social relationships between people. ...
Grave Is Oldest DNA Evidence of Family AOL News Newsbloggers
Using a Variety of Tools, Researchers Unravel Tale of German Graves New York Times
Prehistoric Family Values Science Now
Telegraph.co.uk - Times Online
all 316 news articles


Men With Facial Scars Are More Attractive To Women Seeking Short ...
Science Daily (press release) - Nov 18, 2008
Researchers investigated how scarring might impact on mate choice for men and women seeking both long-term and short-term relationships. ...


Crafting Your Image For Your 1000 Friends On Facebook Or MySpace
Science Daily (press release) - 14 hours ago
There are more relationships, but also more superficial relationships. Empathy and other human qualities may get reduced because of less face-to-face ...


Gold Price Relationships
Seeking Alpha, NY - 5 hours ago
When talking about value, for many investors it all comes back to gold. How many ounces of gold does it take to purchase an asset, whether it be real estate ...


Ending Abusive Relationships
Sonoma Valley Sun, CA - 23 hours ago
I am a great believer in the value of commitment in relationships. It is when the threat of abandonment is reduced, by the commitment to work through ...


Moore is adept at cleaning up building sites and building ...
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - Nov 18, 2008
Although she is still young, Sirena Moore overcame a lot at a young age. She trusts more good things await. An African American girl, pregnant at age 17, ...

Relationships - Google News

Home | Site Map| Link Partners

Powered By: Free Google Adsense Websites!

© 2006