If I could tell you just one thing that has made a big difference to me in the past year, what would that be?  It would be to bring gratitude and appreciation into your life.  I don’t mean going out, stopping people in the street and thanking them for being there.  Start with yourself.

 

For the past year I’ve been noting down, at bedtime, the things I’m grateful for throughout my day.  This practice sprang from my original routine of noting down achievements from the day.  I found that, when I focused on my achievements (no matter how small or seemingly insignificant) it gave my final review of the day a very positive feel to it.  Instead of going to bed with an unfinished To Do list in my head, containing all the things I had failed to do during the day, I would go over what I had achieved.  Without even trying, or noticing, I discovered that my sleep was more calm and untroubled and I would wake up feeling that I had achieved so much the previous day that it would be easy to tackle lots of new tasks.

 

When i found that this routine had become second nature, I started to add in the practice of writing down five or six things I was grateful for during the day.  Again - it needs to be simple and sincere.  Sometimes I just write down “I am thankful for the sunshine today“, or “I am thankful to be part of a loving family”.  It doesn’t have to be “things” to be thankful for, just whatever has helped make the day a good one.

 

Now when I settle down at night, no matter how many things might have gone wrong during the day, or how many things I could find to complain about or be regretful over, I feel more inclined to let go of the things that have upset me.  At the very least I can mentally list the good and the bad and cancel out any bad events in favour of a positive event.

 

Start doing this right now, and I guarantee that, by the end of the month, you’ll feel a lot brighter getting up in the morning, and sleep a lot more soundly at night.  Good luck!