Scanning for Things to Enjoy

It was a beautiful, crisp day in New England and I was out for a drive with my dear childhood friends, Helen and Bob, who have been married a few years shy of forever and still have that spark between them. (Of course, it’s New England – it COULD simply be static electricity!)

I noticed Bob doing something that is close to perfection whenever you want to harness the benefits of the Law of Attraction.

As we drove along, he would point things out for us to appreciate. “That’s a great car,” he said, pointing out a model I’d not seen before. “Look at that interesting rock formation,” he’d say, his attention focused to the left. Then he loudly proclaimed, “What a fantastic day this is!” beaming with pleasure.

As I sat in the back, basking in the warmth of good company and the beautiful sights outside the windows, it occurred to me that Bob was inadvertently teaching me a great tool that I can pass along.

Remember those fun scavenger hunts we participated in as children? Some of us have even been on a few as adults. I remember one in New Orleans several years ago, staged as an event for a conference I was attending.

You can make a scavenger hunt a fun part of your day. Instead of looking for specific items from a list, begin looking for things to appreciate.

You cannot appreciate and be in a negative mood at the same time. It is impossible. Therefore, as you hunt for things to appreciate in your day, you will automatically be putting yourself into a better mood. And the better it gets, the better it gets! That’s the great thing about the Law of Attraction. The more focus that is applied, the more you attract what you’re focused on!

Let’s say you’re reading these words as you sit in your office. Take a moment to look around. What is there for you to appreciate?

I’m guessing there are things in your office that you once placed there because you wanted them nearby as you worked. You knew they would give you pleasure. Have they become invisible to you? When is the last time you even noticed them?

Are there pictures you once loved? Look at them again carefully. Remember why you wanted them there and enjoy them anew.

Do you have a computer that works well? Does it make your life easier?

Do you have a comfortable chair? A good desk? Do you have a window to look out of?

Is the temperature in the room comfortable, especially compared to what’s outside?

Reverse the complaining that most of us indulge in. Stop playing “bottom this” – a game wherein you prove to your opponents that your circumstances are much worse then theirs. Play instead the “top this” game. In this game, you win by finding the most things to appreciate about your life. And the coolest thing about this game is that there are no opponents. You can play by yourself and win every time! It’s fixed!

If, as my friend Bob did, you can “drive” through the corridors of your life with your eyes wide open, looking for things that surprise and delight you; you will find that your life is glorious. You can make it even better by sharing what you find with others.

A word of caution: if you are sharing “neat stuff” with others in an attempt to somehow “fix” them, then it’s not going to work. We’ve all been in a situation where a friend or colleague tries to jolly us out of a bad mood by pointing out all that we have to be grateful for. Didn’t you want to stomp on his foot? Or poke him in the ribs just hard enough to take a little wind out of his sails? Wickedly, you thought, “Let’s see how good his mood would be after I did THAT!

Instead, share for the sole purpose of expressing joy. Share because you’re so excited about things that you can’t stand not to. And don’t make your mood dependent on anyone else’s reaction.

Scan for things and people to enjoy today. Make it a way of life. You’ll be glad you did, I promise.

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