Reflections on Gratitude and Empowerment Messages

This year, I immersed myself in a state of gratitude and lifted myself with empowerment messages, thanks to a practice of jotting down five things I’m thankful for and keying in messages from The Secret Daily Teachings by Rhonda Byrne and Giant Steps by Anthony Robbins into daily e-mail reminders.

It’s a practice I can’t recommend enough to people looking to appreciate the big as well as small things in life more, from their loved ones to events that unfold during a day. I’ve been grateful for reading my vision chart at ever-increasing distances in my practice of the Bates Method to sharpen my vision. I’ve been grateful for being of service to my family members, giving them menus of personalized stretches and gentle exercises as part of my Posture Exercises Method practice. My cat, Inky, a.k.a. “Little Moo,” made my list the most, I’d wager, because I spend every day with her. This exuberant, talkative kitty has been in my life for almost 17 years, and my appreciation for her only heightens as the days pass.

Some days, I was simply grateful for life or delicious fruits such as watermelon. No matter what I wrote, I tuned in more in 2016 to the people, creatures, things and events in my life. And for this, I am truly grateful! 🙂

Of course, typing my Daily Empowerment Messages on my Chromebook each night has helped me frame my life and any challenges I’ve faced by looking at the big picture, and this only amplified my state of gratitude. These words of wisdom have helped me focus and raise my spirits in all I do!

I want to share a passage from The Secret Daily Teachings:

The fastest way to become the master of your thoughts and emotions is through challenging situations. If your life is going along fairly smoothly, there are not the same opportunities that enable you to strengthen your power and become the master of your thoughts and emotions.

You see, even challenges are beautiful opportunities in disguise.

And one from Giant Steps:

Your imagination is 10 times more potent than your willpower. Unleashed, it provides a sense of certainty and tenacious vision that goes far beyond any limitations of the past.

Andre Agassi recently told me that he’d won the Wimbledon tennis tournament thousands of times by the age of 10 in his mind. His consistent and vivid visualizations of victory provided him with the internal certainty that eventually brought him to this reality in summer 1992.

What dreams could you realize through the consistent employment of your imagination?

I’ve spent 10 to 15 minutes each night on my gratitude list and empowerment notes, missing only a small fraction of nights—always making them up. I learned that’s it’s a breeze to form a new habit, and once I was a few weeks deep into this practice, I really enjoyed and benefited from spending the time looking inward and looking out, thinking about the world and universe. In fact, I’m considering adding to my Daily Empowerment Messages throughout my life as I’m inspired to do so with others’ works and even my own thoughts. I’ve made the painstaking step of setting up e-mail reminders to receive these messages at 7 each morning.

Consider beautifying your life in the coming year by adopting a similar practice. Filling gratitude jars left on refrigerators with simple notes is a great way to get started being more mindful and aware. In a world moving faster by the year, it’s a wonderful practice to stop and be conscious. This practice has set up my nighttime meditations nicely.

I want to leave you with a quote from The Secret Daily Teachings:

The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character.

—Buddha