The power of gratitude

• I search out treasure in this moment
• I thank the Great Mystery
• I draw positive people close
• I see opportunities

Thanking the Great Mystery

• A single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
• “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.” Meister Eckhart
• The more I thank and praise, the more beauty I perceive. As if praise washes and cleanses my eyes, so more is revealed. This prayer is a door into the path of beauty.
• You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, and swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in ink. G. K. Chesterton
• Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky. I join my hands in thanks for the many wonders of life; for having twenty-four brand- new hours before me. Thich Nhat Hanh
• Savor it. Say mmmmmmm! Say "WOW!" Susan Jeffers
• Wealth is not his who has it but his who enjoys it.
• Give Thanks. What excites me? What do I relish doing? What is going well for me right now? Who is special to me? What are my blessings? What am I unhappy about? What are the positives in this?

Focusing on Treasure

• It's not about having what you want. It's about wanting what you have and what you are, right at this moment. Zen saying
• Actively search out the beautiful and positive that life has to offer. Dr Irene Kassorla
• I am the prism by which all is perceived. I need not change, make myself better or more beautiful - I have merely to behold myself as beautiful and it will be so. Wondrous, it is so. All exists within. So it has been and will be forever more. And so I choose to behold myself and my life through the vision the Great Mystery has shown me. I will behold my life as glorious in sickness as well as health. In despair and in hope. In sadness and happiness. This will be my gift. This is my sacred song. To behold the wonder and glory - and to proclaim it loud and clear for all to hear. There is no greater honour than to honour myself. My life. All I can see and touch. Every person I meet. Each day becomes my miracle, simply because I live within the Great Mystery. The Great Mystery is there in all I do and experience. Each day becomes a tribute and a prayer and worship. Always together. Always one. Holy art thou, Mysterious One. John Kehoe
• Celebrate what you want to see more of. (Tom Peters)
• Try the "I have had this" exercise. When looking onto a magnificent view, say "I have had this." These experiences accumulate into a feeling of a life well led. Susan Jeffers
• We can only focus on a couple of things at a time. Ensure they are positive, constructive and uplifting. Anthony Robbins
• There are two ways you can be rich. One is to have all you want, the other is to be satisfied with what you have.
• We are building up or tearing down in everything we do. Do you belong to the construction gang or the wrecking crew?
• I know that life is short. I appreciate every moment I have. Susan Jeffers
• If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough. Oprah Winfrey
• My experience of life reflects what you pay attention to. If I'm paying attention mostly to the BAD, BLEAK AND BLAH, my experience of life reflects a life that doesn't seem worth living. If I'm paying attention to mostly the GOOD, GREAT AND GRAND, it reflects a wonderful life. And make no mistake, what I pay attention to is really up to me. Susan Jeffers
• Be an Alchemist. The real alchemist is one who learns the secret of turning everyday situations into gold. There are no such things as problems, only opportunities.
• Count your blessings instead of your crosses, Count you gains instead of your losses, Count your joys instead of your woes,Count your friends instead of your foes. Count your courage instead of your fears, Count your laughs instead of your tears. Count your full years instead of your lean,Count your kind deeds instead of your mean. Count your health instead of your wealth, Count on God instead of yourself. (Irish Blessing)
• Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary. We see in life what we look for. Richard Carlson
• For everything you have missed, you have gained something else. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mistakes

• I celebrate mistakes too.
• A man's errors are his portals of discovery. James Joyce
• Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour. (Truman Captoe)
• You cannot experience that Which You Are in the absence of that which you are not. Therefore, know that when you experience that which you are not, it is not a failure to experience but a way to experience That Which You Are. N. D. Walsch

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When the going gets tough

• What treasure can I see in this? No matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shape the soul and let the glory out. Susan Jeffers
• We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities. (Pogo)
• When it is dark enough you can see the stars. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• So much that is good can come from so much that is bad. Susan Jeffers
• Each circumstance is a gift, and in each experience is hidden a treasure. N. D. Walsch
• Barn's burned down - now I can see the moon. Zen Master Masahide
• Most people go through life stepping on flowers while pointing out the weeds.
• My house burned down. Now I can better see the rising moon Basho (12th century Japanese wanderer)
• Every exit is an entry somewhere else. (Tom Stoppard)
• Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened.
• Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there. (Norman Vicent Peale)
• Every style that is not boring is a good one. (Voltaire)
• Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius
• I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. Dale Carnegie
• Sometimes things don't go the way we feel they should. Maybe it's because something we never dreamed about is going to happen. (Flavia Weedn)

Awakening beauty

• It is my sacred duty to awaken beauty in my life. To let it fill my heart and mind. In this way, I help to purify the consciousness of my race. The first step is when I accept life totally and unconditionally. I allow life to be what it is. Life becomes my lover, spouse, companion. Everything in life is transitory. I feel the tenderness and fragility of it all. This makes it all the more precious. For every moment is unique. It can be appreciated only once and only now. Let us kiss our lover each moment. Let us accept it totally. Everything is perfect in being what it is. When I fully accept this, I walk the path of beauty. When I cease my judging, criticizing, comparing, I see that all things have their place. In the grand scheme of the universe unfolding, all things are as they should be. Not so much as a hair is out of place in the universe. All things are unfolding in their special way. I have much to celebrate. The present moment is always alive with infinite treasures. Life is spilling out at us in abundance. Children playing. Birds singing. Colours. Flowers blooming. Wind in the branches. Ants crawling. Night and day. Poetry. Music. Making love. Friendship. Travelling. Eating. The universe is celebrating. Let us celebrate with it. A child sees everything as wondrous. Walking the path of beauty means living moment to glorious moment, letting everything be new and exciting again. Let us also see the beauty in one another's hearts. As I see beauty, I praise it. Give thanks for it. Fill my mind with it. With practice, I too will see God in a blade of grass and eternity in a grain of sand. John Kehoe