Why You Aren’t as Happy As You Could Be

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This week, here in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving.

It is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. I love family time, cooking and eating. But most of all, I love showing my appreciation and gratitude for others.

I admit, establishing a gratitude practice has been the most essential part of my recovery. When I was depressed, it was hard for me to see the good in anything. But once I started to focus on what I appreciated, I was able to pull out of my dark days much faster.

Even today, whenever I feel sad, worry or regretful, I immediately turn to gratitude. Everything becomes more manageable, effortless, more joy filled.

However, if you are on a self-development path, you may be up to your eyeballs in gratitude. Maybe you wonder why your life still feels difficult or why your goals aren’t coming true as fast as you want. After all aren’t you doing the gratitude work?

These days, everyone is talking about being thankful and how important it is. If you are like me, you might have overdosed on gratitude. If you feel this way, it could be because you’re missing an ingredient (which no one talks about).

Happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something you want, but in appreciating what you already have… Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve heard this before.

Are you ready for the breakthrough? What about appreciating who you are?

Why are so many of us still unhappy? The part about giving thanks that so many people forget is you. Yes, you.

Are you appreciating you?

Many of us are over-givers. We give our time, energy, attention and even money to help others, but we often forget to put ourselves into the experience.

If you feel tired, emotional exhausted or not valued or respected, chances are you are appreciating everyone else, but not yourself.

So today’s message is a radical new approach to gratitude that will transform your life experience.

It’s about you, giving thanks for you. If you have a hard time appreciating yourself and all the amazing things you do, or if you feel like self-appreciation is somehow egotistically or not spiritual, then this video is a must watch.

Most of my personal coaching clients have a hard time putting themselves first because they fear it is egotistically or bad. Many of the moms I coach feel guilty for following their heart or appreciating themselves. But once they try the three techniques I share in the video, their life is transformed.

If you are ready to truly be happy and feel more gratitude and love than you ever thought possible, try these three tips.

1. Do Mirror Mantras

An extremely powerful way to cultivate more self-love is to look in the mirror and repeat your mantras. Louise Hay, the co -author of Loving Yourself to Great Health, talks about the importance of looking into your own eyes as you repeat positive affirmations.

Try it out: Go to the mirror and look into your eyes.

Repeat: “I am willing to love myself.” “I appreciate me.” “I am thankful for my body.” “I am thankful for my X, Y, Z.”

When you look into your eyes, you can build a friendship with yourself. Self-compassion and love is within you, but you have to be open to receive it.

2. Embrace Your Desires

Most of us feel guilty for doing things we actually love. Maybe you enjoy your can of soda after lunch, or you like your eggnog latte every day. Maybe you prefer to take an afternoon nap after lunch, but the house needs to be cleaned. Society, parents, bosses and even our partners put an enormous amount of pressure on us to be, do and behave a certain way. Your spouse may hate that you enjoy a nightcap, but it brings you pleasure.

To truly feel empowered and love your life, focus on your own desires and, instead of resisting them, embrace them. Allow yourself to be who you really are by appreciating your habits, quirks and desires. You will find the resistance disappears and you will be more compassionate toward yourself and others.

3. Create a Self-Appreciation List

One of the most powerful ways to cultivate more appreciation in your life is to make a list of what you are thankful for about yourself. This can be personality traits, habits, accomplishments or even beliefs. Give it a try. Celebrate you.

Make sure you write it down. There is power in journaling and creating an appreciation list for yourself. Both will help you see how awesome you really are.

Try these tips out. I promise you that doing each one for a few minutes every day will change your life.

It’s worked for me and is now my number one go-to happiness tool.

Because when you genuinely fill yourself up with the feelings of appreciation for you, it changes how you relate to the world. It will help you feel more peace, joy and happiness.

So bring it on… Share with me in the comments below. How has appreciating yourself made a difference in your life?

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