Do you want to know the secret to feeling better instantly?
Be grateful!
If you are grateful for the things in your life that you already have,
It will help you get in touch with how blessed you are and that will instantly help you to feel better.
Sometimes we may find it hard to be grateful.
If things don't go right for us,
It can be difficult to remember anything in our life that we can be grateful for.
But the most important thing to remember is that your life does not need to be perfect for you to feel grateful.
Just start by feeling grateful for the smallest little things.
Feeling grateful works a little bit like magic.
If you can feel grateful for even the tiniest little thing,
It will help you feel better.
The better you feel,
The more you will remember things to feel grateful for.
And then you will feel even better than before.
Now here is where the real magic happens.
When you feel good and you remember to be grateful about everything you already have,
Even more good things tend to happen to you.
Try it and see.
I promise you will be surprised at how well this works.
I would now like to share an exercise with you to show you how easy it is to feel grateful.
Sit down in a comfortable spot and then we will begin.
If you like,
You can close your eyes.
If you prefer to keep your eyes open,
Just look down and relax your eyes.
Let's take three breaths together to help us feel calm.
Take a long slow breath in and slowly breathe out again.
Take a long slow breath in and breathe slowly out again.
And one last time.
Take a long slow breath in and breathe slowly out again.
Have you ever thought about how wonderful it is that we can breathe?
Our breath is what keeps us alive.
Our breathing speeds up when we need more air,
For instance when we do exercise.
We can also slow our breathing down just by concentrating on doing so.
This can help us to feel calm and even sleepy.
As long as you are alive,
You can breathe.
No matter what else is happening in your life,
You are blessed because you can breathe.
Now I would like you to spend a few moments thinking about how grateful you are for your own breath.
Your breath keeps your body alive.
Your body carries you through the world and it enables you to do all kinds of things.
Even if your body has different abilities from those of other people,
It can be used in remarkable ways.
And we are all different from each other in larger or smaller details.
So in a sense,
Your body is part of what makes you unique.
Now I would like you to spend a few moments thinking about how grateful you are for your own unique body just the way it is.
Our bodies live on this wonderful planet called Earth.
Mother Earth provides us with everything that we need to live.
Air to breathe,
Water to drink,
Food to eat.
She gives us everything we need to build houses and make ourselves clothes to protect us.
We are even given all of the materials we need to be creative and make anything that we can imagine.
Now I would like you to spend a few moments thinking about how grateful you are for Mother Earth and everything she provides to help you live.
We live in a world with many other people around us.
There are enough people in the world that you will find at least one friend in your life.
Most of us will find many.
Even if you struggle with friendship right now,
You could meet an incredible person tomorrow and you might become the best of friends.
Sometimes we need to go through difficult experiences with friends because it teaches us valuable lessons which helps us to become a little wiser.
Whatever your experience with friendship is right now,
I would like you to spend a few moments thinking about how grateful you are for your ability to connect with others and to form friendships.
If you have a good friend,
Be grateful for them.
If you struggle with friendship,
Be grateful for what you have learned through your experiences.
Be grateful that your ideal friend is definitely somewhere out there waiting to meet you.
Now I would like you to think about how special and unique you are.
In all the world,
There is not a single person exactly like you and that is truly remarkable and something to be grateful for.
Just think about it.
If there is no one else like you,
You don't have to be like anyone else in the world.
You just have to be the best you that you can be.
Spend a few moments appreciating what makes you unique and special and how grateful you are to be just the way you are.
Do you see how easy it is to find things to be grateful for?
Remember that this exercise is just the beginning.
You can continue to think of as many things to be grateful for as you can.
The more grateful you are,
The better you will feel and the more good things will happen to you.
Remember to be grateful for those things too.
Now when you are ready,
You can start to move your fingers together gently.
When you feel that you are ready,
You can open your eyes or look up and continue your day with a grateful heart.
