The Magic of Deliberate Appreciation
I’ve previously discussed deliberate thinking being a powerful creation tool, but today I want to talk about a very easy and almost magic like tool that can help speed up more wonderful things coming into your life: Deliberate Appreciation.
“Deliberate Appreciation is consciously taking the time to notice and reflect on the things in your life that feel good. The things that are working. The things you enjoy and love.”
In life, there is always a duality of things going well for you AND contrasting situations that are giving birth to more desires within you.
In any moment, YOU get to choose where you put more of your focus: on appreciating what's working well OR on contemplating the contrast of life and focusing on whats not working.
Where you choose to put your focus most of the time will dictate how you feel throughout your day.
If you put your attention on things working well for you and the things you appreciate and enjoy 51% of the time, you're going to feel OK. Maybe a little rocky. If you put your attention on things working well and the things you appreciate 65% of the time you're going to feel A BIT BETTER THAN OK. If you put your attention on things working well for you and the things you appreciate 80% of the time, you're going PRETTY GOOD.
The magic is, the more you deliberately tune to the things already working well for you and the things you currently appreciate in your life, the more things will come to you and work out for you that are easy to appreciate.
I could go into more details of why this is true, but the only way to connect with this magic and know it as truth for yourself is to give it a try.
So, how do you start deliberate appreciating and experiencing the magic of allowing more good things to flow to you and more situations to work well for you?
Two things I'd like to share before we start are:
1) APPRECIATING ANYTHING will ignite this magic. It doesn't have to be fancy and it doesn't have to be something BIG.
2) BE GENTLE AND EASY ABOUT THIS. Even if you're only noticing only about 1-5% of your life working for your these days, and it doesn't seem like there's much to appreciate, you can slowly and gently begin to shift your focus. You don't have to go from noticing 5% working well to 90% working well. If you're in the thick of things and nothing seems to be working well in your life, concentrate on noticing only ONE thing working in your life and moving the needle to 1%. Then 2% and then 3%. Any movement of your focus toward ANYTHING you appreciate will start the flow of more to appreciate coming your way.
Here are a few easy ways to deliberately appreciate throughout your day
First thing in the morning play a game of finding ONE thing that you really enjoy and rest your attention on it for a moment (your pillow, your coffee cup, the sun rising, the feeling of washing your face, brushing your hair, the feeling of a fresh shave, the water temperature in the shower, the food in your fridge, the gas in your car, the bus driver getting you to where you're going safely, your headphones that tune out the world, ANYTHING AT ALL COUNTS)
Take time at the end of the day to reflect over one thing in the day that worked well.
Wherever you are now, take a moment to look around and bring your eyes and energy to anything in your current space that you like. Offer a little appreciation to what catches your attention (the wind on your face, the couch you are sitting on, the tv that projects your favorite shows, ANYTHING)
Carve out time to journal about the things in your life that have worked before and/or are working now.
Send appreciation messages to people in your life that have helped you along the way (this can be a letter, simple text, phone call, or email too)
Pick out your favorite outfits or pajamas and wear them this week
Tell the next person you interact with something you enjoy about them (stick to people you already know, let's not confuse strangers here, HA!)
When something really doesn't seem to be going your way ask yourself if you can find ANYTHING about the situation that is worth appreciating. Is there some new clarity you've learned? Is there a new desire you have from this situation?
Think about the last good movie or tv show you watched and think about why you liked it. What was interesting/moving/fun about it?
Put on your favorite song and listen to it
Pick your favorite meal and eat it this week! Savour the things you enjoy about it!
The fun part about deliberate appreciation is the more you practice it deliberately, the more it becomes a muscle that works by itself and soon you'll find yourself being a more active noticer of what's actually working in your life (VS being bogged down by all the stuff that isn't working).
Are you ready to start appreciating more and being in alignment with the life you'd like to create for yourself?
I can help! Whether you've been stuck at 25% feeling not that great lately, or trying to see life more full over the 51% threshold, it can often help to talk to someone else about how you're feeling and how you'd like to feel better. You can think of a clarity call as another form of deliberate rising of your energetic field.
During the call, I can help you feel better on almost any subject. From that place you may feel lighter or more clarity or even find something to appreciate. And if you don't have anything in particular to talk about but are curious about creating your life more deliberately, the call can be used to discuss anything related to living a more aligned life!
Want to know about my favorite alignment tool: Journaling? Are you looking for a way to connect with your intuitive self? I created a simple course called Journaling Into Alignment where I teach you how to use journaling to get into alignment with yourself. Check out the details by clicking this button below
