Make the decision to switch off the telly when you are not sitting
Count
watching it and instead play some of your favourite music when
you are at home. Select some wonderful mood music, sing along
to the words and dance around the living room or lie down on the
sofa and just enjoy listening. The feel-good factor will surprise you!
your blessings
(I am playing some beautiful music whilst writing this article)
My attitude to hard work changed many years ago, when we
moved to the village of Evropouli and met our wonderful, elderly
The benefits of gratitude and a Greek neighbour, Alexander. Alexander used to get up at 6 am to
positive frame of mind
clean the church and then either walk or take a bus (if there was
one) to his fields to put in a full day’s hard work. On weekends, he
would help me to scythe my 6ft tall grass and plant vegetables. He
radiated happiness from every pore and love shone out from his
eyes. He never complained about anything and never had a bad
by Samantha Kendle.
word to say about anyone. When I asked him why he never com-
Aromatherapist, Yoga teacher
plained about his hard work, he replied that each day’s work was
and actively positive person.
“sweet effort” and he was grateful for the life that he had. Every-
thing that Alexander did, he did with love. This amazingly positive
attitude made a huge impression on us. I made an effort to remind
myself that no matter what the job was, each day’s work would be
gratitude
“sweet effort” from then on, for the rest of my life.
noun
the quality of being thankful; readiness to show If your day starts badly, this does not mean that things will con-
appreciation for and to return kindness
tinue to go wrong for the rest of the day. Try laughing when small
things don’t work out. Chaos theory is a scientific fact of life. Life
does not always go as planned, and if you have the unrealistic ex-
pectation that every little thing in your life should work out the way
S
everal people asked me what I am going to write about for
you want it, this attitude will lead to disappointment. Understand
this issue of ISLAND magazine. When I told them that I
that there is a balance. By changing your perception of negative
wanted to write something about gratitude, the response
events, you open the door to possibilities.
was the same. “Why would you want to write about that, when
there are so many bad things happening right now in the world’s
According to certain philosophies, when you feel negative, you at-
economy?” This is why I believe that gratitude is exactly the right
tract negative things to you and when you feel positive, you attract
subject to discuss. There seems to be so much negativity and un-
more positive energy. Everyone in this world has days when noth-
happiness in people’s minds, and if it is true that you are what you
ing seems to go right, but this is normal. Accept it, smile and move
think, then we need to look at what is going on in our heads.
on, knowing that good things are just round the corner, if not star-
ing you in the face. Take a good look at the beauty that surrounds
The first step is realising that you are, to some extent, in con-
you. Breathe it in and be grateful for all that you have.
trol of your thoughts and emotions. Take a typical morning; you
wake up, and the sun is shining. You smile and think “aah, it’s go-
This world is imperfectly perfect, whichever way you want to
ing to be a lovely day.” But then, while making yourself breakfast,
look at it.
you trip over the dog/cat and the contents of your morning cuppa
go flying. Then, you notice toothpaste dripping down your clean,
I love it just the way it is.
pressed shirt, or maybe your car won’t start and all of a sudden,
you think “it’s not going to be a good day after all”. Life is not on
your side! You feel angry and frustrated. Of course, your very
busy mind has zoomed in and focused only on the negative events,
and at the same time, you choose to completely ignore all the good
things that are happening in your life right at this moment. Good
things which you have probably taken completely for granted
and rarely, if ever, contemplate. Most people could tell you all the
things that went wrong with their day, week, month and most of
2008! These negative thoughts seep into your consciousness and
before you know it, your emotional state is affected, causing un-
happiness, anger, and frustration. Imagine how grateful you would
feel if you could remember all the good things that happened in Follow the signs!
your day, week, month and year!
So often, when visiting people’s homes, I notice that their televi-
sion is left on continuously, usually set on the news channels with
their constant bad news.
Listening to and absorbing the news on a daily basis can affect
your emotions in a negative way. It is good to stay informed, but
make the effort to remind yourself of all the possibilities for love
and positive action that each day can bring. Unhappy events occur
daily which deserve our compassion, but these are balanced out
by many wonderful, joyful events taking place at every moment,
around the world. Most of these good events do not make the
news as they are not deemed to be “newsworthy.”
 ISLAND ISSUE 9
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