Be
“Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
“As a man thinks, so is he.”
Your heart and mind are fertile ground.
You must be like a gardener, a farmer, a caretaker.
Weeds have a tendency to get into the soil.
Negative thoughts have a tendency to enter the mind.
What is your strategy to keep the weeds at bay?
Might I suggest Gratitude?
Gratefulness opens doors you once thought were locked. But how do you cultivate a grateful heart and mind?
Theres an old saying, “What informs us, forms us.” What is informing you? What are you passively allowing to educate you about the world around you? You are always “driving under the influence” of something. Some agenda, some ideology, some attitude, someone else’s plan for your life.
Do
Four things you can do to cultivate gratefulness in your life.
1. Step one: Filter the messaging. You’ll spend the rest of your life flailing and being tossed to and fro by every ideology under the sun if you don’t filter the thoughts and ideas that come at you every day. Here’s how to filter: Spend time in Truth. Listen to positive messages, music, and media. Turn off the news. Set aside the political books. Reduce the noise in your life. Turn off the depressing music.
2. Step 2: Take a daily walk. Make it a habit to begin your day with a walk of gratitude. Begin by Thanking God for all of the relationships in your life. Thank Him for all of the blessings. Thank Him for the struggles. Thank him for both the good and the bad things in your life because it is from both that we learn how to grow and mature into better people, more resilient people, and more powerful people in this world.
3. Step 3: Read some great books. Listen to some positive music. Watch some inspiring movies. Here are some great books to read: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Gospels, The Stoic virtues series by Ryan Holiday, any book by Jon Gordon, Jim Rohn, Steven Covey, Erwin McManus, Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightengale, Og Mandino, Andy Andrews, and so on and so forth. Pick up positive books and listen to positive music and watch positive stories that will elevate your mind.
4. Step 4: Begin creating good. Tell better stories. Make something beautiful. Create Art. Make music. Write something down. Post something positive. Call someone in your life and thank them for being a supportive friend. Give thanks by giving of yourself. Be generous with your skills, your gifts, your talents, your self. Bring all that you are into the world everyday.
This is how you cultivate gratitude.