Thursday, July 25, 2013

My 5 Little Secrets


I'm sitting in a diner, having a slice of apple pie and iced tea for breakfast.  The walls are covered with pictures and artifacts from film and tv of the 50s and 60s.  The diner has this warm vibe with a after-glow of positive support of a by-gone era.  As I'm conducting my daily ritual, the waitress comes by and refills my small iced tea.  Two seats to my left are some older gentleman, and by their interactions with the staff appear to have been coming here as regulars for a long time. Over at a table behind me are some industry folks laughing and talking about a idea that they'd like to pilot.  As I'm scanning the room looking for this oddity that I'm feeling, something that I'm not used to, something seems marvelously different.  Then, a magical observation comes to light.

Nobody is angry.  Nobody is upset. Nobody is complaining.  In fact, nobody is being negative at all.  Which is shocking since moments ago I was on my iPhone facebooking as so many of us do, with post after post about financial market failures, political who said what's, and why I should despise so-and-so for who-knows-what.  Today though while I looked at my news feed it just felt out of place, so I put my phone away and looked around soaking in this isolated incident of happiness and tranquility.

Then it hit me, why do we lust so much after negativity?  It's as if we have some societal addiction with anger itself.  And this addiction for us has become self feeding, like a compulsive hoarder or eater.  "I'm angry because they're angry" who are angry "because they are being angry already at us!"  A deafening spiral of contempt that we are drowning in.

I laugh a bit when I realize this, the waitress dashed a look over and smirked, as if she 'knew' what I've stumbled upon.  Bathing in the moment, with a clear happiness from the understanding and acceptance of my new discovery.  Kinda like how a alcoholic laughs at the absurdity of their issue, once they can truly see their addiction. Then I look down at my writing tablet and begin my ritual...  Something I've found that has completely transformed my life for the better.  Seems as it could be a cure for this addiction, and something anyone can enjoy.

Write down 5 things you are grateful for.

That's it, there's nothing else to it. Every morning I have a tablet and will write down 5 things that I'm grateful for. I might even read the past weeks posts, which is awesome considering that's 35 individual items i'm truly grateful for. With each item really feeling the surge of positivity that comes with that gratefulness.  If you do this for 30 days, you'll be blown away how your life starts aligning and the magic that you'll experience. 

So if you, or someone you know has a addiction with negativity. Share this with them, it might just be the intervention they were needing. 

Have a fantastic day!
:)
--Paul Jacob Evans