Start The New Year With Gratitude

Gratitude is expressing thanks. This can be done internally in quiet moments of prayer, or meditation, or it can be spread out in to the world. Either way, to express thanks, can be the basis from which to live your best life.

As we begin another New Year, consider starting a practice of showing or expressing gratitude daily

Do you want to feel happier? Would you like to increase your sense of well-being, your energy and optimism? Are you motivated to decrease your stress level? Cultivating a daily discipline of expressing gratitude can reap these rewards.

Get started by writing in a journal all the things you are grateful for, or by consciously reciting in your mind all the things you are thankful to have in your life. One can get creative with practicing gratitude by setting a gratitude jar in the kitchen to drop notes into, or record them on your smart phone for later reference.

When thinking of things you are grateful for, move beyond the expected such as family and friends. If you broaden the scope of things you are grateful for, in time, even the smallest thing such as a new bud on your rosebush, or your pet learning a new trick, will bring you peace and joy and reduce your stress levels.

It’s easy to feel grateful for the good things you have in your life, what is hard, is to feel grateful for the challenges that life has delivered. This is where the notion of discipline comes in to play. Discipline is the exercise of self-control. You have the choice to see things in a negative light, or to give them a positive spin.

Practice and discipline yourself to feel, think and express thanks. Making the conscious choice to live in gratitude will be life changing.

In Gratitude for Life’s Difficult Lessons~

~I am grateful for the mistakes I have made, for they have taught me to grow in character.
~I am grateful for the forgiveness others have granted me, for it has taught me humility.
~I am grateful for the things I want but don’t have, for it has taught me patience.
~I am grateful for the things that have not worked out as planned, for they have taught me perseverance.
~I am grateful for the people who challenge me, for they have taught me to look within.
~I am grateful for my limitations, for it has taught me to rely on others.
~I am grateful for my failures, for they have taught me that new opportunities abound.
~I am grateful for the pain and suffering of my most challenging life lessons, for they have made me who I am today.
~Joan Jerkovich, BCC

Developing a gratitude habit is good for your heart health! Listen this weekend to “The Joan Jerkovich Show” for how to “Cultivate A Gratitude Discipline For The New Year” and “How Gratitude Can Improve Your Health”. Listen also for business advice on how to grow your business and gain confidence when feeling “Anxious Over Charging Business Fees”. Listen as “Your Life Coach” brings you “Empowering Talk Radio”.