I heard before that one way to increase happiness is to add Beauty to our lives. 
I realized today that it doesn’t necessarily means to buy beautiful things, it can be to notice the beauty more. And when you live in Beautiful British Columbia, it is easy to see beauty! It’s just a matter of being more conscious of its existence. And it’s a bit like gratitude, the more I notice it, the more I will notice!

How does it get any better than that?

Gratitude:I saw a video of George Lukas talking about the pursuit of Happiness. He said that when we have experienced pleasure from something, we will never experience the same intensity ever again unless we increase the quantity. 

That reminds me how the first two bits of something delicious feel divine but after that, if we pay attention, the pleasure is not the same. So let’s really take the time to savor the first two bites!

And what if, instead of looking for the same pleasure, we could wipe the slate clean, have no expectation of pleasure, and be surprised each time, a bit like an eighteen month old child discovering the world for the first time. 

I am grateful for the delicious moment I had of sitting in the sun and enjoying the sun’s kiss in my bare arms…

What else is possible?

Gratitude:I had lunch at Miracle Beach this week. I had been there before with one of my dear friend. She can find heart-shaped rocks every where but Miracle Beach is one of her top spots. So I tried to find heart-shaped rocks. And it is a little bit like gratitude: you have to really look and go slow to notice the shape of each rock. And I noticed that at first I released all the heart-shaped rocks I picked up because they were not heart-shaped enough…

Where in our lives are we not being grateful for things that are not gratitude-shaped?

How can we really look and find more gratitude as if we were looking for heart-shaped rocks?

Gratitude:I was reading something that brought a smile to my face. It wasn’t because it was funny but more because it was heart warming. I wonder how could I consciously add things to my life that bring a smile to my face…

2015-05-26 Gratitude:I saw a video on Facebook about a woman who is raising money to make a documentary to teach women how to love their body. 

It is something that I have been changing in the last few months. The Access Consciousness classes have helped and I still have body-love travels to take. 

But in this journey, I became more grateful for my body that contributes to my joyful life in so many different ways. Thank you Body!

Gratitude:On May 25, 18 years ago, I arrived in Canada, looking for adventure. 

I am grateful for the choices I made that led me to living in this beautiful country.  

2015-05-24

Gratitude:

I was talking with a fabulous young woman about gratitude and other things and she said that she felt she needed more confidence. We talked about how being proud of what we do is a way to boost confidence (and happiness). I wonder if listing 3 things we are proud of about ourselves, every night, would have the same effect than listing 3 things we are grateful for…

Anyone wants to try?

Gratitude:I’m so cute: after asking Rolly if he would exchange the 3 things he’s grateful for in his day, I promptly forgot about it and have not brought up the subject up with him again. 

So I just set a daily reminder in my phone to make sure I don’t forget to bring up the subject. 

I am making having more gratitude a priority in my life…

Have a grateful day everyone!

Gratitude:In her video, Jane Ransom also said:

“If you want to feel more joy: choose gratitude. Because when you feel more joy, you make the world more joyful.”

“When you practice gratitude you change yourself. And when you change yourself you change the world.”

I love when the clouds are so white and the sky is so blue. The clouds make me think of whipped cream… Yum! 

Gratitude:Rolly and I were on our way to the village for a free concert and I asked him if he would be willing to verbalize gratitude with me every evening following the recommendation from Dc Anthony Mattis. 

He said “Sure, I can use the same three things every day”…

Me: “Fine. What are your three things”

Him: Now?

Me: Yes. 

Him: My lovely wife (he kind of had to because of the “Fine” above :), where I live and free concerts. 

Me: (big Smile). Actually, the three things need to be about the day we just had. So it can not be always the same things every day. 

So this reminded me of something about gratitude. A part of increasing gratitude in our lives is to extend gratitude to others, telling others when we are grateful for. But the other part is receiving the gratitude (thank yous) others give us. 

For that, I am grateful Rolly is grateful for me!