The practice of counting your blessings is so simple and so powerful in altering your life, that I want you to continue to add ten more blessings to your list every day for the next 27 days. You might think it could be difficult to find ten things you’re grateful for every day, but the more you think about it, the more you will realize how much you have to be grateful for. Look closely at your life; you have received, and are continuing to receive so much each and every day. There is really so much to give thanks for!
You could be grateful for your home, your family, your friends, your work, and your pets. You could be thankful for the sun, the water that you drink, the food that you eat, and the air that you breathe; without any of them you wouldn’t be alive. You could be grateful for the trees, the animals, the oceans, the birds, the flowers, the plants, blue skies, rain, the stars, the moon, and our beautiful planet Earth.
You could be grateful for your senses: your eyes that see, your ears that hear, your mouth that tastes, your nose that smells, and your skin that enables you to feel. You could be grateful for the legs you walk on, your hands that you use to do almost everything, your voice that enables you to express yourself and communicate with others. You could give thanks for your amazing immune system that keeps you well, and all of your organs that maintain your body so that you can live. And what about the magnificence of your human mind, which no computer technology in the world can duplicate?
Here is a list of subjects that will remind you of the major areas you can look for blessings to be grateful for. You can also add any subject you want depending on what is important to you at any time.
Magic Gratitude Subjects:
Health and body
Work and success
Money
Relationships
Passions
Happiness
Love
Life
Nature: planet Earth, air, water, and the sun
Material goods and services
Any subject of your choosing
You should feel significantly better and happier after each time you Count Your Blessings, and how good you feel is your measure of how much gratitude you felt. The more gratitude you felt, the happier you will feel, and the faster your life will change. Some days you will feel happy really quickly, and other days it may take a little longer. But as you continue to Count Your Blessings every day, you will notice a bigger and bigger difference in the way you feel each time, and you will see your blessings magically multiply!
Magic Reminder
Make sure to read tomorrow’s magical practice some-time today, as you will need to do something specific before you begin tomorrow.
Magic Practice Number 1
Count Your Blessings
First thing in the morning, make a list of ten blessings in your life you are grateful for.
Write why you’re grateful for each blessing.
Go back and read your list, either in your mind or out loud. When you get to the end of each one, say the magic words, thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel the gratitude for that blessing as much as you possibly can.
Repeat the first three steps of this magical practice every morning for the next 27 days.
Read tomorrow’s magical practice today.
Day 2
The Magic Rock
“Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
WRITER
In the beginning of working with these practices, it takes concentrated days in a row to make gratitude a habit. Anything that reminds you to be grateful is helping you turn your life into gold with gratitude, and that’s exactly what this magical practice is about.
Lee Brower presented the gratitude rock practice in The Secret film and book, when he told us the story of the father of a dying child who used a gratitude rock to be grateful for his son’s health, and his son made a miraculous recovery. Since then the gratitude rock has been a proven success with many people the world over, who have used it for money, healing, and happiness.
First, find a rock or a stone. Choose a small size that fits in the palm of your hand and that you can close your fingers around. Choose a rock that is smooth, without sharp edges, not too weighty, and that feels really good in your hand when you hold it.
You can find a Magic Rock from your garden if you have one, or from a riverbed, creek, ocean, or park. If you don’t have easy access to any of these places, then ask your neighbors, family, or friends. You may even have a precious rock or stone already that you can use as your Magic Rock.
When you have found your Magic Rock, put it by your bedside, in a place where you will definitely see it when you go to bed. Clear some space if necessary so that you can easily see your Magic Rock when you go to bed. If you use an alarm clock, put it next to your alarm clock.
Tonight, just before you get into bed to go to sleep, pick up your Magic Rock, hold it in the palm of one hand, and close your fingers around it.
Think back carefully through all the good things that happened during the day, and find the best thing that happened that you’re grateful for. Then say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened. Return the Magic Rock to its place by your bed. And that’s it!
Every night for the next 26 days, follow the same Magic Rock practice. Before you go to sleep, think back through the day, and find the best thing that happened that day. While holding your Magic Rock in your hand, be as grateful as you can be for that thing, and say thank you.
Using a rock seems like such a simple thing to do, but through this practice you will see magical things begin to happen in your life.
When you look for the best thing that happened during the day, you will search through many good things that happened, and in the process of searching and then deciding on the best one you are actually thinking of many things you’re grateful for. You will also be ensuring that you go to sleep and wake up in gratitude each day.
The Count Your Blessings and Magic Rock practices will ensure that you begin and end your days in a state of gratitude. In fact, they are so powerful that together they would change your life in a few months. But this book is designed to change your life really fast through an abundance of magical practices. Because gratitude is magnetic and attracts more things to be grateful for, the concentration of gratitude over 28 days will intensify the magnetic force of your gratitude. When you have a strong magnetic force of gratitude, like magic, you automatically magnetize everything you want and need to you!
Magic Reminder
Be sure to read tomorrow’s magical practice sometime today, as you will need to collect some photographs before you begin.
Magic Practice Number 2
The Magic Rock
Repeat steps one to three of Magic Practice Number 1 – Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
Find a Magic Rock and put it by your bedside.
Before going to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in your hand and think of the best thing that happened today.
Say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened today.
Repeat the Magic Rock practice every night for the next 26 days.
Read tomorrow’s magical practice today.
Day 3
Magical Relationships
Imagine if you were the only person on Earth; you would have no desire to do anything. What would be the point in creating a painting if no one could see it? What would be the point in composing music if no one could hear it? What would be the point in inventing anything if there was no one to use it? There would be no reason to move from one place to another because wherever you went would be the same as where you were – no one would be there. There would be no pleasure or joy in your life.
It’s your contact and experiences with other people that give your life joy, meaning, and purpose. Because of that, your relationships affect your life more than anything else. To receive the life of your dreams, it’s vital that you understand how your relationships affect your life now, and how they are the most powerful channels for gratitude to start magically changing your life.
Science is now confirming the wisdom of the great sages of the past, with research studies showing that people who practice gratitude have closer relationships, are more connected to family and friends, and have other people look upon them favorably. But probably the most astounding statistic that has come out of research studies is that for every one complaint about another person, whether in thought or word, there have to be ten blessings for the relationship to flourish. Any less than ten blessings for every one complaint and the relationship will deteriorate, and, if the relationship is a marriage, it will most likely end in divorce.
Gratitude makes relationships flourish. As you increase your gratitude for any relationship, you will magically receive an abundance of happiness and good things in that relationship. And gratitude for your relationships doesn’t change only your relationships; it also changes you. No matter what your temperament is now, gratitude will give you more patience, understanding, compassion, and kindness, to the point where you won’t even recognize yourself. The little irritations you once felt and the complaints you had in your relationships will disappear, because when you’re truly grateful for another person, there’s nothing you want to change about that person. You won’t criticize, complain about, or blame them, because you’re too busy being grateful for the good things about them. In fact, you won’t even be able to see the things you used to complain about.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)
WRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT
Words are very powerful, so when you complain about any person you actually harm your life. It is your life that will suffer. By the law of attraction whatever you think or say about another person, you bring to you. This is the very reason why the greatest minds and teachers of the world have told us to be grateful. They knew that for you to receive more in your life, for your life to magically increase, you have to be grateful for others just as they are. What if every person close to you said, “I love you – just the way you are,” how would you feel?
Today’s magical practice is being grateful for people just as they are! Even if all of your relationships are currently good, they will increase with more magnificence through this practice. And with everything you find to be grateful for in each person, you will see gratitude perform its breathtaking magic, and your relationships will be stronger, more fulfilling, and more enriching than you ever thought they could be.
Choose three of your closest relationships to be grateful for. You might choose your wife, your son, and your father, or your boyfriend, your business partner, and your sister. You might choose your best friend, your grandmother, and your uncle. You can choose any three relationships that are important to you, as long as you have a photograph of each person. The photograph can be just of the person, or the both of you together.
Once you have selected your three relationships and photographs, you are ready to set the magic into motion. Sit down and think about the things you are the most grateful for about each person. What are the things you love the most about this person? What are their best qualities? You could be grateful for their patience, ability to listen, talents, strength, good judgment, wisdom, laugh, sense of humor, eyes, smile, or kind heart. You could be grateful for the things you enjoy doing with the person, or you can recall a time when the person was there for you, cared for, or supported you.
After you’ve spent some time thinking about what you’re grateful for about the person, put their photograph in front of you, and with a pen and notebook, or on your computer, choose the five things you are the most grateful for. Look at the photograph of the person as you make your list of five things, begin each sentence with the magic words, thank you, address the person by their name, and then write what you’re grateful for.
Thank you, their name , for what? .
For example, “Thank you, John, for always making me laugh.” Or, “Thank you, Mom, for supporting me through college.”
When you’ve finished your lists for all three people, continue with this magical practice by taking the photographs with you today and putting them in a place where you will see them often. Whenever you look at the photographs today, thank the person by saying the magic words, thank you, and the person’s name:
Thank you, Hayley.
If you’re moving around a lot, carry the photographs with you in your bag or pocket, and make an effort to look at the photographs three times during the day, following the same procedure.
Now you know how to use gratitude’s magical power to transform your relationships into Magical Relationships. Although it is not part of the requirement of this book, you may want to take this amazing practice and use it every day if necessary to make every relationship you have magnificent. You can use it on the same relationship as many times as you want. The more you can be grateful for the good things in your relationships, the faster every relationship in your life will miraculously change.
Magic Practice Number 3
Magical Relationships
Repeat steps one to three of Magic Practice Number 1 – Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write why you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
Choose three of your closest relationships and collect a photograph of each person.
With the photo in front of you, write five things you are most grateful for about each person, in your journal or on your computer.
Begin each sentence with the magic words, thank you, include their name, and what you’re specifically grateful for.
Carry the three photographs with you today, or put them in a place where you will see them often. Look at the photographs on at least three occasions, speak to the person’s face in the photograph, and thank them by saying the magic words, thank you, and their name. Thank you, Hayley.
Before you go to sleep, take your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.
Day 4
Magical Health
“The greatest wealth is health.”
Virgil (70 BC–19 BC)
ROMAN POET
Health is the most precious thing in life, and yet more than anything else, we can take our health for granted. For many of us, the only time we think of our health is when we lose it. Then the realization hits us: without our health, we have nothing.
There’s an Italian proverb that speaks the truth about health for many of us: “He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.” While we rarely think of our health when we are well, you will have felt the truth of those words even when you had something minor like a cold or the flu, and you were bedridden. When you are not well, all you want is to feel better, and nothing else matters other than having your health back again.
Health is a gift of life; it is something you receive and continue to receive, each day. In addition to everything else we do to be healthy, we have to be grateful for our health to continue to receive more health!
Remember:
“Whoever has gratitude (for health) will be given more, and he or she will have an abundance. Whoever does not have gratitude (for health), even what he or she has will be taken from him or her.”
You may know of people who chose a healthy lifestyle and yet still lost their health. Giving thanks in return for the health you are receiving is vital. When you are grateful for your health, you will not only maintain your current health, at the same time you will set the magic into motion to increase the flow o
f health to you. You will also begin to see the improvements to your health happen right away. Little aches and pains, moles, scars, or marks will start to magically disappear, and you will notice your energy, vitality, and happiness increase markedly.
As you will learn in a later practice, through the daily practice of gratitude for your health, you can improve your eyesight, hearing, and all of your senses, along with every function in your entire body. And all of it happens like magic!
“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.”
John Henry Jowett (1864–1923)
PRESBYTERIAN PREACHER AND WRITER
The degree that you are grateful for your health is the exact degree that your health will magically increase, and the degree that you’re not grateful is the exact degree that your health will decrease. Living with a decreased amount of health means your energy, vitality, immune system, clarity of thought, and every other function of your body and mind is weakened.
Being grateful for your health ensures that you will continue to receive more health to be grateful for, and at the same time it eliminates stress and tension in your body and mind. Scientific research studies have shown that stress and tension are at the root of many diseases. Studies have also revealed that people who practice gratitude heal faster, and are likely to live seven years longer!