On this Good Friday I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you one of my favorite “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff” stories on being thankful and sharing the message with others. Enjoy your day and Treasure Life!
At the end of many of the letters I write, I use the salutation “Treasure Life” before signing my name. I also use these words, often, when signing a book for a reader and sometimes on my outgoing voice mail messages at work. It is one of the ways I try to remind people of the preciousness of life, of how lucky we are to be here, alive on this planet. When I use these words, I really mean what I say. In fact, I believe that gratitude is one of, if not the most important, tool for living a peaceful life. Gratitude has a way of putting almost anything into its proper perspective.
Too often, we take this incredible gift of life too much for granted. We rush around as if we have forever, respond out of habit instead of out of wisdom, and fail to attend to our highest stated priorities. We often fail to recognize and acknowledge not only what we have-a home, family, friends, possessions, and health, but life itself.
I have found that when I do acknowledge the gift of life, much of the “small stuff” that used to bother me takes on far less relevance and significance. Appreciation puts things in perspective and allows me to be less uptight and reactive. In fact, when I’m feeling really grateful, virtually nothing seems to get to me. Sometimes I can even see the humor in all of the chaos.
When you remind others to treasure life, you cannot help but do so yourself. Try it sometime. Remind your spouse or child, a friend, parent, neighbor or someone else to treasure life, and observe what happens to you. You’ll probably connect with the feeling of gratitude, of feeling blessed. The quality of your day-and of your life- will improve, as well the quality of life of those around you.
Appreciation of life reminds you to be kind, humble, and generous and to take moments, frequently, to stop and smell the roses.
I encourage you to take this strategy to heart and implement it in your daily life. Remind others frequently to treasure life. Doing so will be a tremendous service to mankind and will help you as well.
~ Richard Carlson, Ph.D
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