The Power of Appreciation in Changing Your Life

Have you ever felt paralyzed by negative feelings before? Perhaps you felt overwhelmed by stress, overcome with anxiety, or filled with frustration about the many things that keep going wrong for you. And the longer you feel that way, it seems like the worse things get in your life, right?

There’s a reason for that, and it’s called the law of attraction. Your thoughts, feelings and beliefs magnetically keep attracting the essence of what you focus on the most. If you’re focused mostly on stressful circumstances, worries and problems, you can’t help but continue that cycle the more you focus on it.

photo credit: Steve B, UK

There is an easy way to turn the tide in a more positive direction, however, and it’s so simple once you get the hang of it: start appreciating.

Many spiritual teachers encourage a daily focus on gratitude and appreciation, and there is a good reason for that; it makes you feel better, and as you begin to think more positively and feel better, you begin attracting more and more goodness into your life.

There are different ways to start an appreciation practice, but here’s how I usually do it:

1) First thing in the morning, start appreciating.

The moment I wake up, I start focusing on something to appreciate. I appreciate the comfortable bed I’m lying in. I appreciate the soft pillows that support my head, the warm blankets covering me, the purring cat snuggled up next to me, and so on.

As I get up and start my day, I appreciate the hot water flowing from the shower head, the towel that dries me, the warm clothing I put on, my vehicle for taking me where I want to go – on and on, there are a million things to appreciate in life!

2) During moments of frustration, find something to appreciate.

You know those irritating moments during the day where you could easily swing from an okay attitude to a #%*!@$* attitude? Like when you’re in a hurry and there’s a big traffic jam slowing you down. Or when you’re in the store trying to pick up a few things before you head home and there are long, slow moving lines at every register? Those times are perfect for shifting into an appreciative mindset.

photo credit: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋)

Look around you and choose just one thing that you can appreciate. Focus on the reasons why you appreciate it, and within a few moments more opportunities for appreciation should come to you.

Keep focusing on those, and within a few minutes you should notice that the situation you are in seems to smooth out – traffic begins moving again, checkout lines move more quickly, annoyances fade away.

That’s the power of appreciation!