There is a saying, “Stop and smell the roses.” It doesn’t mean to simply smell flowers, it means to live in the moment with a great appreciation for the present and the things around you.
So let me ask you… Do you ever stop to smell the roses?
It’s very easy to get completely caught up in planning for the future, that we often forget to take the time to appreciate the wonderful things happening in our daily lives. I’d like to offer 3 things you can do today to live in the present and start appreciating the moment.
Become Very Self-Aware – The first thing you can do to live in the present is to become very self-aware. To perform your best, acknowledge the beauty of your life and be happy, you need to know who you are and why you think and feel the way you do. You have gotten yourself to where you are as the result of the choices and decisions that you have made in the past. If you want to be somewhere else in the future, it is up to you to make new and better choices and decisions in the present.
Embrace Your Natural State Of Being In Life – Next, start to embrace your natural state of being in life. Your normal, natural, healthy state of being alive is a wonderful gift and should be treated that way. Try to tune into the amount of joy you experience and the number of times you laugh on a daily basis, to demonstrate the fullness of your current life position. Acknowledge these moments and be grateful for them each time that they happen. Eventually, reacting to these moments with gratitude will become a habit, and you will start to feel happier all the time.
Develop An Attitude Of Gratitude – Lastly, if you want to be truly present and benefit from appreciating your daily life, you must develop an attitude of gratitude. The habit of feeling grateful and expressing that gratitude to other people, by saying “thank you” to those in your life, and to yourself for all of the wonderful things in your life every day will have amazing effects on your personality, and your ability to live in the present.
An attitude of gratitude makes you a warmer, friendlier, and more genial. An attitude of gratitude makes you more sensitive and more aware of others around you and your environment. The more gratitude you have, and the more gratitude you express, the happier and brighter your life will become.
When we are thankful to others and express a wonderful attitude to those around us on a regular basis, we can change the lives of others as well as our own. Start each morning by saying, “I believe something wonderful is going to happen with me today.”
Peace and Love, Jim
