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So much of the time our attention focuses on the things beyond our reach at the expense of the many blessings at our feet. One of the keys to happiness on Earth is not in having everything we want, but in wanting everything we have. This, simply put, is an attitude of gratitude.

I'm not talking about losing a loved one or some traumatic occurrence for which grieving is a natural process, just the way you look at everyday existence. That's what determines our general outlook on life and the general quality of our mental health. It's all in the way we think, or the mechanics of our thought process.

Because we learn to think through word associations, our minds are trained to think through associated thought patterns. One negative thought breeds another, and another, and on and on until we get on a negative roll in which it is hard to think of anything positive. Unless something very positive happens, or we do something about it, we get the blues. We might even get depressed. The reverse, however, is also true. One positive thought breeds another, then another. If you can force yourself to start a gratitude list, you can change or totally reverse the direction of your life. You will then find it easer to pray.

The next time you get the blues, try this little method to change your outlook. It is a way to turn your glass from half-empty to half-fullto overflowing.

On the top of a sheet of paper, write GRATITUDE LIST. Under that write the person, place, or thing for which you are most grateful. Your mind, already on a negative roll, may resist the idea altogether. But if you can get the first entry down, you'll find you can think of another without much difficulty. Continue listing people, places, and things for which you are grateful until you notice a change in your mood. If you continue the list, you'll notice that the items begin to include the simpler things of life that you take for granted every day. At this point you have achieved an attitude of gratitude.

It works every time.

"I can't help how I feel," is the most immature and spiritually ignorant statement any human can make. Helping how you feel is the key to mental health and happiness. Often this is simply referred to as "attitude."

(An excerpt from A Higher Good.)

Learn more about this author, Ron Kruger.
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