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I live in a world that is incredibly dynamic and commonly very uncomfortable. Because of this I've had to learn how to cope with daily fear and anxiety because this emotion would constantly slow me down and keep me creatively locked in a place where I could not move until I dealt with what it was that I was feeling.

This aspect of life really took a toll on me for a long period of time until I started understanding how to take control of my mind and my emotions. Surprisingly enough, it was much easier than I was expecting and only required me to spend about 5 to 10 seconds each day focusing my mind in a specific way. Once I got into the habit of doing this, I discovered that regardless of what the fear or anxiety was, I could completely re-organize my thoughts within my mind to emphasize a positive perspective.

This has allowed me to be extremely productive, allowed me to take on life experiences that would normally be too overwhelming for me, and live a life that is full of gratitude which ultimately is, in my opinion, true happiness.

You know those times when you wake up in the morning and you are greeted by those shitty, negative, and unsettling thoughts? It's those shit thoughts that will lead you down a road that you don't want to go down. If you entertain those thoughts you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable and undesirable place.

To counter that, what you do is immediately focus on one thing that you are grateful for. It can be the smallest thing. But once you decide on one thing that you're grateful for choose another thing that you're grateful for. Do this 3 to 5 times and spend about 3 to 5 minutes thinking about your life and really focusing on the things that you're truly grateful for.

Gratitude is like the Pickled ginger of your life. Pickled ginger is often used as a palate cleanser when consuming Japanese food. Being grateful literally clears out all of the negative thoughts streams and gets you focused in a way that is positive, realistic, and productive.

You see, the mind is very simple in that it works to associate with whatever thoughts you are putting your focus on. If you are focusing on things that you are afraid of or anxious about, you're going to associate memories and imaginative stories that build upon these associations. Shifting your focus to gratitude changes how you associate things within your mind.

In another metaphorical sense, when you are on the internet and your page isn't loading correctly what do you do? You refresh the page. What happens when your computer is running slow? You delete the cache. Being grateful is another way of saying, I'm ready refresh my page and I'm deleting the previous cache because it is a brand new day filled with brand new opportunities and experiences.

This seems super simple and basic but I will assure you that this simple and basic exercise is the one thing that has helped me more than any other workshop, seminar, class, or book I have ever experienced. Focusing on what you are grateful for does something within your neurology that literally reassociates your mind with things that are desirable. It reorients your mind to look for the good things in life rather than looking for the negative.

There is nothing wrong with looking for the negative however, in our society we have a media system that is focused on the negative and so there is a constant imbalance at play.

CONCLUSION

If you simply choose to connect with a few things that you are grateful for within the first few minutes of your waking hour, I promise you that your life will change dramatically. This is the real deal and it is what has single-handedly allowed me to survive and thrive in times when I thought I was going to die. You can do it too and you can change your life dramatically. What are you grateful for today?