Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable.
Take a deep breath in and slowly let the breath out.
Once again,
Take another deep breath in and slowly let the breath out.
Once again,
Take another deep breath in and slowly let the breath out.
Now imagine yourself surrounded by a beautiful white light.
A light so bright and so pure.
A light of protection and peace just for you.
Breathe in this white light that surrounds your whole body.
Feel it as it sinks slowly into your skin,
Making you feel all warm and safe.
Feel how good it feels.
Now imagine yourself sitting in a lovely green meadow filled with lots of flowers.
Flowers of all different kinds and all different colours.
And in this beautiful meadow you can see a small tree about the same size as you.
It's a bit further into the meadow so you decide to go and take a closer look at it.
As you get nearer you can't really decide what kind of tree it is because it kind of looks like many trees.
Lots of different trees,
But it's so beautiful.
So you find yourself standing next to this lovely little tree and you notice there are little bits of paper hanging from its branches.
And you wonder what they are.
So you reach out and have a look at them.
And what you see are little pieces of paper with nothing on them.
How odd.
You look down at the base of the tree and you notice that there is a little wooden sign standing there.
And it says,
This is the gratitude tree.
This is a place where you can write down everything that you are thankful for in your life.
How wonderful.
What a fantastic idea.
You decide that you have many,
Many things to be grateful for.
You have so many good things in your life all the time,
Even if you can't always see them,
Even if you don't always realise it.
You see a writing pad and a pen next to the sign for you to write on.
For you to write all the things that you are grateful for in your life.
So you sit down with your back against the tree,
You pick up the pad and the pencil and you start to think about what you would like to write.
So sit for a moment and think about all the things you are grateful for,
All of the people in your life.
Your parents,
Your friends,
Even your pets.
You may be grateful that you have a PlayStation or a football or even just a nice big coat to keep you warm.
You can write down anything you want that you are truly grateful for.
You may be thankful for the house where you live.
You may be thankful for all the kind people in your life,
The food you have to eat.
Write down all of these things.
The more you write down,
The happier you will feel.
And the more you write,
The more you will realise that you have so very much to be grateful for.
So for just a moment,
Start to write.
As you write each note,
You notice that what you have written is appearing on the little notes on the tree.
It's kind of like magic really.
You see that all of the things that you are grateful for have been transferred from your pad to the blank notes on the tree.
And as each note appears on this beautiful tree,
The tree grows bigger and bigger.
It fills out.
You find yourself being filled with a really deep sense of love in your heart.
And you are being filled with more and more gratitude.
Filled with more and more love,
More than you've ever felt before.
And you feel so very blessed for the life you have been given.
How lovely would it be if someone put your name on their gratitude tree?
Because they are grateful that you are in their life.
The things that you do for them.
The things that you do that are helping them to grow too.
Sometimes it's easy to forget how many good things there are in our lives.
How much good there is in this beautiful world of ours.
It's easy to forget how many things there are to be grateful for.
Sometimes life doesn't treat us too kindly,
But it is our life.
And we have to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.
We have to learn.
We have to grow into the beautiful and wonderful people we will one day become.
But never forget,
You are already beautiful.
You are already wonderful.
The light inside you shines so brightly that you just have to let it out.
Always remember that no matter what happens in your life,
Never let anyone make that light go out.
Never stop being the most amazing and beautiful being that you truly are.
Feel this light inside you.
Feel how it shines.
Feel the warmth and the love it brings to you.
Really feel it.
Now shine that light back into the world.
And when you do this,
You will be surprised at how many lights will shine back at you.
But for now,
It's time to return.
So take a deep breath in through your nose.
And slowly and gently breathe out through your mouth.
Again,
Deep breath in.
And slowly and gently breathe out.
One last time,
Deep breath in.
And slowly and gently breathe out.
And whenever you are ready,
Wriggle your fingers and wriggle your toes.
Give a big stretch and slowly and gently open your eyes.
But remember,
Shine,
Shine as bright as you can.
Always.
