Appreciation

Every day I try to remember to appreciate every moment. Every day I try to remember how lucky I am. Every day I try to remember what a privilege it is to have food, water, roof over my head, shower, refrigerator, health, freedom, education, family, friends, time and much, much more! Every day I try to remember not to get irritated by the little inconveniences that life provides from time to time. Every day I try to remember not to complain and feel sorry for myself just because I forget that the little moment of unhappiness I happen to go through is not the center of the entire universe! I try and try, day after day, over and over again until it becomes a habit. Until it becomes something completely natural. Until I fully realize there is nothing missing. And when my expectations, ignorance, self pity and sense of entitlement are gone, all that is left is APPRECIATION. ...

Get yourself unstuck

This morning I was sitting and drinking my hot lemon water. It was still a bit dark outside as I was looking out of the window, enjoying the moment of quiet contentment. I looked at the window sill that had something on it that I could not recognize. A shape of an object I could not identify. Intrigued I was staring at it and straining my mind to no avail. I just couldn’t figure out what it was. It was too dark in the room and my brain couldn’t make out anything out of it. I decided to shift my body to the left and right, providing my vision with a slightly different angle and an enhanced depth perception. It took seconds for me to realize I was looking at a half opened, glossy book reflecting the window light outside. It seemed so obvious and simple that I couldn’t understand how I had not seen it a minute ago. Sometimes when we are stuck, we need to change the angle a little bit, change the perspective on the situation we are having difficulty with. It is like looking at something from the distance. I look and I don’t know what I am looking at. What is it? No recognition. The brain is trying to process it, to remember but it can’t. It is stuck. In order to move on, I need to adjust, to change my way of looking at it, interpreting it. Sometimes all it takes is taking a couple of steps to the side, climbing a little higher or stooping down. Suddenly we realize what it is we are looking at and we marvel at our inability to see it just a moment ago. When stuck – change something. It doesn’t have to be a big change. You are not trying to completely change the situation. Just your way of looking at it and understanding it. Practice it on small things in your life first. Small challenges are your great chance to train and develop the ability to find solutions. ...