Expressing gratitude is a wonderful thing for our own psychological well being, especially when we do it EVERY day, not just on Thanksgiving! Start a new self-care habit today. Write down and say out loud 5 things you are grateful for EVERY day before you go to sleep. Most people review their day and focus on the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” list before bed but then our brain spends the night going over the things that didn’t go well. Doing a gratitude list right before you go to sleep helps our subconscious to focus on the positives in our lives so we wake up in the morning feeling better about ourselves and our lives. It helps us to shift from feeling like we are still chasing the carrot on the end of the stick (i.e. when I get that job promotion then life will be good) to realizing that we already have carrots! People often come in for counseling because they don’t feel happy or content. When we shift our thinking to being grateful for what we already have rather than focusing on what we don’t have, we will find that elusive contentment and happiness. They are hidden in the choice we make on a daily basis to either focus on the “haves” or to focus on the “have nots.” The choice is yours.
Clearing Your Head and Healing Your Heart
Putting the Pieces Together (So We Make Sense of Ourselves, Others and Our World)
Lois Zsarnay, LMFT, CEDS, CCTP, EMDR, BCPC, RD
Family Therapy Ventura, California
(805) 650-0507
©2014 Lois Zsarnay, LMFT, CEDS, CCTP, EMDR, BCPC, RD