Taking Your Vitamins

Both gratitude and appreciation have been shown to be phenomenal treatments to ward off negativity and even depression. By deliberately contemplating the people, circumstances and even material things in your life for which you are thankful, you can effectively better your mood and probably enhance your outlook on the entire day. Do this often enough and it may shift how you perceive life in general. Want to go a step further? Reach out and express gratitude to those people responsible for the events and circumstances in your life for which you are so appreciative. Your perspective will likely begin shifting to a more positive and optimistic outlook, even in the face of challenges.

While it is easy to wake up and pick someone to which you will send a note of gratitude – maybe this is a postcard or, if you were born after 1955, probably a text – it is just as easy not to. And in order for this to work, I believe it has to become a habit. Why? Because there is no cure for pessimism and negativity. Yes, gratitude and appreciation are wonderful treatments, however, they will not actually cure the condition. We can only build up our immunity to negativity, we can’t completely eradicate it. And like Vitamin C, optimism can’t be stored, thus we must receive infusions of optimism via gratitude and appreciation on a daily basis to keep our immunity strong. Probably even multiple times a day, especially when we feel the symptoms of negativity coming on.

As you start your day, don’t forget to take your vitamins!

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