PROACTIVE AND GRATEFUL

I will be PROACTIVE AND GRATEFUL, so that I may remain aware of and profit from, all aspects of reality, especially those golden opportunities that could be disguised as challenges or problems.

PROACTIVE AND GRATEFUL:  (first off, I need to acknowledge,  Stephen Covey's first of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, "Be Proactive".)

In one way, there is a certain amount of redundancy in the words proactive and grateful, as it could be argued that they have similar meanings.  I do want to clarify why I am still using them both. 

In the next two entries, I will discuss each of them separately but for today I want to simply point out that gratitude is, in and of itself, IMO an actual solution to many, many challenges, (assuming your ultimate goal is happiness) but the proactive part is the act of consciously and deliberately CHOOSING to be grateful.   This distinction is my reason for using them both.  

In a previous entry, I acknowledged the crucial role that sleep and diet play in the regulation of neurotransmitters that affect our moods, and those can have a powerful influence on our tendency to choose to be grateful or not.    

I acknowledge this because I believe much of the pop psychology about having a "positive attitude" is overly simplistic,  ignoring the fact that having a so called positive attitude can be an uphill battle if certain pre conditions are not met.  A person who has not taken the time  to clearly define their personal philosophy of life, or acquire the knowledge  to make good health choices, (among the mountain of misinformation in both these areas) will find themselves  unnecessarily but significantly challenged in making proper choices.

However, armed with that knowledge we need to stay aware of our "neurotransmitter status", and this awareness takes away the "legitimacy" of using it as an excuse. (sorry!)  This knowledge should also motivate us to CHOOSE to make optimum sleep and nutrition a higher priority, not to mention taking the time to deliberately define a philosophy to live by. (being proactive).

Taking on every day through the "lens" of being proactive and grateful enables us to experience life in a manner described by Kahlil Gibran (quoting him does not imply agreement with all his ideas):  "And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy". 

Thanks for reading.