William James stated, “The finest discovery of my generation is that people can change their lives by changing their attitudes of mind. ”

There are lots of times people become discontent with their lives and their environment and it is it any wonder? There’s a whole industry created to make us feel more inadequate. We’re not thin enough, or wealthy enough, or stylish enough because we don’t buy the most recent products available on the market. The message rings loud and clear: We’re not good enough!!! .

How many times have you found yourself saying, “If only _________ then I could be happy ” The problem is that if we get caught up in this way of thinking we will never be happy because there is always something more we will think we need to complete our lives.

Paul Reid stated, “Poverty is just a state of mind often brought by the neighbor’s “new car” Put simply, whenever we see our friends and neighbors getting new things, we sometimes feel inadequate because we can’t afford these luxuries. But, the truth is we’re not poverty stricken, we only think we’re poor. This frame of mind is purely relative to whom you are comparing yourself to. If you are just to change your way of thinking and look at the homeless, you would then realize how truly wealthy you are. You’ve got a roof over head and food on the table. It may not be your ideal house and you may be eating peanut butter sandwiches and not caviar, but you’re sheltered and fed. Believe it or not, many people don’t even have these things.

Many people don’t understand the benefits of gratitude. Whenever we sit and think about everything we want, but do not have, we set ourselves up in a downward spiral of disappointment and negative thinking which leads to overwork, and eventually depression. Whereas gratitude lifts our spirits and provides us a clearer focus on life as it really is. We will be contented with what we have and for that reason our attitude brings us a spirit of peace and contentment.

You may say to yourself, but I don’t have much! Well then be thankful for the little things you do have. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have someone who loves you? Do you have someone you love? Do you have food on your table? Do you have your health? Do you have a job? Do you have a pillow to sleep on? Or a blanket to keep you warm? Do you have your sanity? These are little things but even the smallest things we can be thankful for.

Someone once stated, “If you haven’t everything you want, you must at least appreciate those things that you do not have that you wouldn’t want.”

There is always something we’ll find to appreciate and be really grateful for.

I understand this sounds simplistic and that I know that there are things that many of us always truly need…but if we start changing our mindsets and develop an attitude of gratitude then we will be in a better position to enable our positive thoughts show us ways in which we will be able to achieve more.

Gratitude is the initial step in achieving what you want to achieve in life. Viki King stated, “You will not be happy with more until you are happy with what you have.”

Let’s remember to try our best to eliminate these negative thoughts that impede our life’s journey and learn how to develop positive thoughts that will help us achieve our goals. Make it a point to incorporate in your daily life a mindset of Gratitude.

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