Chapter II.
Developing the skill of gratitude
For the last 2,8 million years humans have been living in the survival mode responsible for keeping us safe from being killed by wild animals and other humans. This survival mode pushes our brain to constantly look for things that can go wrong, instead of concentrating on the positive side of life. Our unconscious constantly looking for whatever might hurt us so we can run or fight it, and, therefore, escape death. It is in our self-preservation instinct that causes our brain to naturally overemphasise the negatives and concentrate on danger. It is exactly for this reason we notice angry faces much faster than kind and happy ones. According to research, we experience pain from losing our possession three to four times stronger than the joy of having it. Our brain is wired to take in the bad and ignore the good. Your mind constantly looking and considering potential threats, which fills your life with stress, fears, anxiety and irritation. This self-preservation instinct has helped our species to survive millions of years, but not at being happy. Happiness and satisfaction are not our brain’s primary concerns. And that is also why you tend to fixate on one or two negative comments even when your whole work overall has been well-regarded. Pleasure and positive emotions used to be potentially dangerous for our survival and therefore are not the priorities for our brain. Pain generates powerful emotions; it holds our concertation and attention for much longer period of time than pleasure and happy moments.
However, you no longer need these neurological patters in the current times. In our modern society this survival mode is no longer useful, and, in fact, it prevents us from being happy and noticing all the positive and good things that happen and we have in our life. It is, indeed, possible to feel happy all the time. We just need to rewire our brain by consciously developing a skill to notice and appreciate all the good things we have in our life and feeling grateful for them. It takes about 60 days of daily practice to develop a habit, but once you master to feel gratitude all the time for all the things you’ve got in your life, your vibes will elevate, and you will experience ecstatic joy every day of your life. This is doable and it is all about practice. As it is said, practice makes it perfect.
“The most important trick to be happy is
to realise that happiness is a choice that you
make and a skill you develop. You choose to be happy;
and then you work at it ”
I strongly recommend to get yourself a gratitude diary that is designed to make you notice and discover all the amazing things you already have got and what is working already in your life. Once you establish the habit of writing in a gratitude diary every day, it will make wonders to your life. Order it now and enjoy the benefits it delivers.
Once you learn to fully appreciate the here and now, it will magically elevate your vibes moving you on the higher planes where you will attract more positive things and events. Gratitude is the magic that opens the door to happiness.