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Health & Fitness

Be Grateful

     When we remember to count our blessings, life feels better.  Whatever pain we may be experiencing feels less sharp.  Our energy level and mood are steadier.  Simply put, life is easier and happier.
     When we feel the warmth and good feeling of gratitude, it helps is slip into the present moment a little more deeply.  Future worries and past pains are reduced or gone from our consciousness for a time.  We simply feel gratitude.  This feeling starts a cascade of pleasure sensation.  On a biochemical level, we experience a rise in dopamine and oxytocin.  These feel-good hormones give rise ti noticing other things in the environment for which we can be grateful.
     The eyes of love are what perceive gratitude; in fact, the energy of love is what gratitude is all about, as some of the same hormones flood our systems when we feel love and gratitude.  I am not speaking here of romantic love, but of an all-encompassing love for life that makes life feel worth living.
     So often, we get caught up in the details of making things work, which means noticing what is not right and correcting it, or creating something in order to survive.  This is part of life; however, when our sights are primarily focused on surviving rather than thriving, we often miss out on the love and gratitude there is for us to enjoy.  When we focus on a lot of survival-level details, we need to make a special effort to shift awareness to what we are grateful for.
     Allow yourself to shift your biochemistry, lift your spirits and experience a feeling of goodness as often as you can, by being grateful.  

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