Sometimes in life, things happen too fast. As a 70-year-old woman, I know this too well. However, when you discover the power of gratitude, you unlock the fullness of life. Making gratitude part of my life was one of my wisest life lessons. Today, I am grateful for the chance to reflect and share the following lessons; what I learned through experiences in public speaking, personal growth courses, reading inspirational books, allowing me to develop my sense of awareness in all areas of my life. Gratitude made sense of my past, brought peace for today, and created a vision for tomorrow.

Physical

* Take care of your body. Feed it with healthy nutrient-dense foods. Plan your meals during the week and cook over the weekend.
* Take quality vitamins and use skin-care products that only have good ingredients.
* Exercise regularly. Find something you like to do. I like walking as it helps me clear my head.
* Remember your health is your wealth.

Emotional

* In his superb book The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz says “Don’t take anything personally…Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.”
* Laugh every day. Find joy and happiness even in the small stuff.
* Take responsibility. Do not blame your parents, your siblings, society, or anyone else.
* Choose to be the best person you can be. If you don’t like it, change it. Jim Rohn author of The Art of Exceptional Living, said “For things to change you have to change.”
* Make sure you don’t go to bed on an argument. That is what my wise Dad said to my husband when he asked my hand in marriage.

Mental

* Ask for help when needed. Do not try to be a superhero.
* When you have a challenge with someone, the best way to handle it is to start by saying, “I have a problem when you...” instead of starting your sentence with the subject “YOU...”
* Respect yourself and learn to say “no”. When we learn to say no, we stop lying. The result; people can trust us, and we can trust ourselves.
* Respect and accept people for who they are. In his inspiring book Aspire, Kevin Hall talks about the Hindi word “Genshai” which means never treat anyone small―and that includes yourself.
* When faced with a challenge, I found that, what works most of the time is to ask two questions; “Is there anything you can do for me?” and “Is there anything else you can do for me?” For instance, in a hotel where there was no hot water, I asked those two questions and they did not charge us for the room that night.
* Find and develop hobbies.
* Challenge yourself. Take risks. A few years ago during a personal growth course I climbed up a 40-foot pole.
* Engage in life fully.

Spiritual

* Feed your spirit with joy, love, and inspirational books.
* Use your gifts. Everybody has their own to share with the world.
* Write in your gratitude journal five things you are grateful for daily. What you focus on is what you get.
* Try things before you judge them.
* Forgive others, mainly yourself.
* Be kind and compassionate.
* Be of service to others.
* Believe everything is as it should be. Live in the moment.
* Live life with integrity.
* Appreciate nature. Live in harmony with it.
* Be a great listener. Listen with your heart. The American poet, Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In conclusion, I hope these valuable lessons I learned through the years will be helpful to you, your friends, and family and will make a difference in your lives.

I would like to leave you with a few of my favorite authors;
Wayne Dyer, Robin Sharma, Kevin Hall, Don Miguel Ruiz, Michael Singer, John Izzo. I find that when I read a few minutes a day it keeps me grounded and constantly learning.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at; denisewerleman@me.com