Exhibiting the ‘Appreciative’ Mindset

“Wherever a person turns they can find someone who needs them.”
~Albert Schweitzer (adapted).

Appreciative systems are so much more powerful than depreciative systems are, particularly with regard to the world of relationships. They say “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

Positivity works much better.

The exhibition of the appreciative mindset is simply the focal use of accentuating the positive at every turn, as a way of affirmation and for growth.

For instance, in the business world, instead of doing Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analyses, we can do Strengths-Opportunities-Aspirations-Results (SOAR) analyses. There are many other Appreciative Inquiry (AI) techniques.

But it’s the personal application we’re interested in right here; to become more positive influences (and influencers) within our world.

The Personal Approach

At this level we’re making a commitment to grow only in positive directions. We’re taking all the negative ‘stuff’ that comes into our shovels and reducing it for the minable positive – the rich commodifiable ore of transformation – to us and our worlds.

There is plenty in this world with which to draw appreciative energy from. In fact, there are so much of both i.e. also the depreciative, negative aspects of life. If we stay negative, at least two bad things happen:

1. Our effect is nullified.
2. We become miserable.

It always depends on us and our chosen focus.

When we’re stuck depreciatively, and we are dissatisfied with our results in life, we can just as easily shift to the positive, stronger mindset.

Exhibiting the Mindset of the Strong

Strong people don’t pick off opportunities to be critical or negative; they look for the positive.

The strong don’t need to delve into things that won’t be beneficial. Life is far too short for them to do this. They only want to maximise the opportunities to do the best they can with their time.

Exhibiting this appreciative mindset is a blessing not only for the world around us, but for us – little ole us -as well, for we’re infused with blessing from deep within when we see the affect we have on our world, and particularly our closest relationships.

Voltaire said,

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing.
It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

There’s no room for envy or petty jealousy with a willful appreciation. It swells our own world on the back of others’.

Then at last we see that others are never a threat to us – even more skilled others. The moment of appreciation is the moment of disarmament. How appreciation often boomerangs. All things are ours!

Our Role in Life – to Encourage Through Appreciation

Connecting back with the quote at top, we see now how important it is to accept a role in life to encourage others – for in this, not only are others built up in ways they need, but we too are built up, spiritually, in God.

Appreciation – it’s a weird but wonderful spiritual science!

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Steve Wickham is a Registered Safety Practitioner (BSc, FSIA, RSP[Australia]) and a qualified, unordained Christian minister (GradDipBib&Min). His blogs are at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com/ and http://inspiringbetterlife.blogspot.com/

Gratitude is a Key to Happiness

Have you ever said thanks to god for anything? How was the feeling?

We feel much fulfilled while we say thank you because this makes us feel that we got something we needed. It also makes opposite person feel that what he or she gave to us is valuable.

God gave us this wonderful life and we should be thankful for the same. We pray to god for the things we want but we never say thanks for what we already have. Even if we say thanks it would be only once or twice. God gave us many gifts which we enjoy every day so we should be thankful every day.

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick

Think this way how will you feel when in a train you give your birth to someone standing and that person without saying thanks sits on your place. You will definitely feel bad that you gave your valuable place to someone who didn’t value it. I am not saying god will feel bad if you won’t say thanks but I am saying that you will feel good if you say thanks.

If you want to be happy then you have to release all your negative thinking by replacing it with positive thinking. Gratitude will remove all negative energy from your mind because you will start focusing on things you have instead of what you don’t have.

“Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.” - Joseph Wood Krutch

All the self help author suggest you to practice gratitude daily and I am no exception to that. Gratitude is the first thing I do in the morning. I say thanks to god for my life, health, my wife, my parents, my friends, knowledge, strength, opportunities and many more things. I feel fulfilled while practicing Gratitude. I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world that I have many reasons to celebrate every day of my life. Gratitude also helps me to focus on my goals. It makes me realize that if I can achieve what I have then I can definitely achieve my other goals. It gives me amazing confidence. Gratitude actually prepares you to fight against all the odds and makes you happy.

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

You can prepare your gratitude journal where you can write things for which you are thankful. Every day you can add your list. It is not that we should be thankful for big things or events in our life. Small things or events also give you immense happiness. I say thank you even when I get a place in a bus or train. I also write everyday in my gratitude journal. I have also kept reminders in my mobile which rings at every three hours and I start thinking of events or things or people I am thankful for. Promise yourself that you will think of five things you feel gratitude for and I guarantee that you will find ten things.

Start Gratitude today, say thanks to god, to universe and even to your parents. In search of things we don’t have with us we forget to enjoy things we have with us.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust

At the end I want to dedicate a poem from an unknown author.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

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by Samir Kunvaria
For more articles on self improvement please visit http://www.samirworld.com

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