No matter where you are or how you feel, find something to be grateful for. Give thanks for life’s small miracles, for a smile, or a sunset or for any of nature’s wonders. Even if the only thing you can appreciate is your next breath, then give thanks for that. Slowly, let the appreciation grow inside you. Feel the heart open as your gratitude expands. Even the smallest spark of gratefulness, fanned with enough attention, can grow into a raging fire of appreciation.
Why do this? Because gratitude is a “pattern-interrupt”. It is impossible to be in fear or negativity when we are filled with appreciation. Try it, it’s quite extraordinary. Giving thanks centers us. Giving thanks brings us back into this moment. Giving thanks drops us into the heart and creates a natural detachment from the fluctuations of the mind.