The importance of appreciation

Yesterday’s lesson: Describe things in a more positive light. Challenge: Try not to cuss or complain. ✅

It’s important for today too. Let’s see why.

Agency and gratitude, as discussed with Dr. Paul Conti on the podcast, are active states of being that impact our mental health and relationships.

Agency is about understanding what we can control and how our decisions shape our future. It's about projecting ourselves into the world and actively navigating life's complexities.

Gratitude, on the other hand, is about appreciating our existence and the efforts we and others make to move forward. It's about bringing kindness and compassion to our interactions, rather than anger or resentment.

When you actively engage in these, you experience peace, contentment, and delight. You wake up feeling happy with the steps you take while getting out of bed.

In simple terms, happiness = doing + being happy about it (gratitude)

You do things with gratitude. Instead of wanting everything to go your way, you appreciate the good side even if it’s not perfect.

Reader Do you appreciate where you are in life?

You take care of your health. You read. You learn. You do what’s best for you and others. Etc. Be grateful for yourself.

Sometimes our mental health is suboptimal because even when everything is good, we look at the stressful side on purpose.

P.S. If you’re not on the right path, it’s very hard to be grateful. You should try to use your agency to turn things around.

Again, when you live in alignment with your goals and dreams (agency) and you wake up every day feeling lucky that you get to experience it (gratitude), you become ideal.

Mini-challenge for the day

When someone asks you ‘How are you?’ or ‘How is your day?’, describe why you’re grateful for your life

Like, actually. Imagine they told you, ‘Tell me everything good about your life’. And take 1-2 minutes to describe what you’re happy about - using positive expressions.

Not only will you feel better, but you also reinforce the same positive behaviors so you can repeat them later.

Let’s upgrade your mental health.

Good luck with the challenge!