Thankful Power can transform your life and give you a positive frame of mind
By DANNY MASSARO – Squash Mad Columnist
It’s only when athletes have injuries that they start to appreciate that being injury free is a great place to be. Yet, when they are injury-free, they often look for other things to worry about and don’t feel grateful.
Are you in the habit of feeling like you have nothing much to be thankful for?
It was none other than Oprah Winfrey who came up with this bit of wisdom: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus said: “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
When you are really thankful for the things you already have, life gets better straight away.
So what can you be grateful for in your life right now? In what ways are you really lucky? Who can you be thankful to?
Think about friends, family, health, technology, education, hobbies, community, food and drink, warmth and accommodation, facilities, opportunities and simply being alive!
It’s the most powerful exercise you’ll ever do!
Start a “thank you journal” and add things to your list every day.
VITAL THINGS
Thank you for letting me breathe, for letting me see and for letting me hear.
Thank you for my friends, my family and my heroes.
Thank you for my brain, my body and my spirit.
Thank you for food, for drink and thank you for choice.
Thank you for my bed, warmth and shelter and thank you for a home.
Thank you for being able to laugh, for being able to feel sad and to be able to smile.
Thank you for the sky, the land and the air we all breathe
Thank you for birds, animals and all nature
SIMPLE THINGS
Thank you for my phone, my TV and my car
Thank you for my kit, my competitors and the referees
Thank you for my best friend, my mates and my pets
Thank you for all my opportunities, my teachers and my coaches
Thank you for sport, thank you for art, thank you for science
Thank you for my clothes, my shoes and my toothbrush
SPORT THINGS
Thanks for giving me my brilliant skills
Thanks for giving my fitness and strength
Thanks for my clever thinking
Thanks for letting me find this sport to play
Thanks for my ongoing improvement
Thanks for the chance to always improve
Thanks for competition and my opponents to play
Thanks for prizes and things to win
Thanks for fun and play
Thanks for my fighting qualities and determination
Start NOW and feel stronger immediately
LIVING THANKFUL
Maybe every day send one person a text message, thanking them for something.
It could be like this:
“Hi Paul, I just wanted to let you know today how much I really appreciate the coaching session you gave me the other night. It will really help me. Thank you.”
“Good morning mum, thanks a lot for the chat last night. It’s nice to know you care about me and my future. Love you, John.”
TEST TIME
Do it right now and see how you feel when you press send. Better, the same or worse?
I would guess you feel better straight away…. That is “Thankful Power” right there.
PHONE ALERT
Send yourself a strong reminder that goes off on your phone once a day.
“Hey you, wake up! You are so lucky to have the things you have, remember them! You are healthy you are loved and you have loads of opportunities. Be thankful and think about all the things you have got going for you rather than what is missing. Tell the people who you are lucky to know that you appreciate them.”
We do tend to take things for granted. That happens so we have to practice being thankful and remind ourselves often so we get into the habit of being grateful…
FACE TO FACE
Saying ‘thank you’ directly to a person’s face is very powerful. It can feel a little strange if you’re not used to it. So practice it and see if you can show it sincerely.
Remember a time when you really were thankful to somebody for giving you something or helping you out in an emergency. Your thanks would have been sincere. You meant it!
Eye contact is the big thing. Look at somebody in the eyes when you thank them. It really makes the difference. The message will land stronger and you will receive a look back that will boost your power too.
OFFER something to show you APPRECIATE
Showing you are thankful by saying it is great, but showing it with actions is also really important.
Give your time
Offer a small gift
Buy flowers or a card
Make something for the other person e.g. bake a cake, cook a meal, a homemade card
Help out where you can e.g. clean up, ask if you can do anything to help.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening.
Feel free to comment below