4. Replace the words 'at least' with 'even if'.
Feeling a sense of emotional wealth comes from an
acknowledgement of the present moment. Let's face
it: yesterday is gone. Tomorrow, or even tonight isn't
here yet. All we have is right now.
In a gratitude journal you might write, "Even if I am
stuck in traffic, I have a fabulous new CD, a half-
tank of petrol and a glorious sunset in my rearview
mirror."
5. Change your lens.
Justice suggests that life can be viewed through a
different lens, to gain a fresh perspective. First, try
on the wide-angle lens: before you define a moment
as bad, negative, hurtful, or simply boring, view the
situation broadly, both literally and figuratively. Then
flip it to the micro-lens to find the extraordinary in
the ordinary, or "the sacred in the profane," says
Justice.
Say you have an important meeting that you've just
found out requires you to walk several blocks
because there's no parking. This is a surprise to you.
Now you're pushed for time, not dressed for a walk,
unsure how to get there on foot and worried how
your laptop is going to make your bad back feel six
blocks later..
Put on the macro lens: in the grand scheme
- it doesn't really matter if you're five minutes late
- the other attendees are walking, too
- a comfortable amble will lower your heart rate
before this big meeting
- and this irritation will be lost to your memory by
dinner tonight
- and you'll know just how out of shape you've
become
- and this will be your wake-up call to start walking
every day
Flip it to the micro lens: if you zoom up closely
- the grounds to the building are stunning
- there's a man feeding a squirrel right out of his
hand
- the sun on your face feels good
- your shoes really were a bargain, now that you
think about it
- You enter the meeting relaxed, refreshed and
awake
6. The three questions
Justice practices a gentle daily examination. "At the
end of the day, I ask myself three questions."
- What has surprised me?
- What has touched me?
- What has inspired me?
He says that "hard-bitten folks have trouble finding
beauty or seeing life anew in a daily way, and their
arteries and immune system suffer for it." Answering
these three questions inspires us to see the stuff of
our days through fresh eyes.
Justice tells the story of a burned-out, jaded heart
surgeon who attended a workshop on stress
reduction. When asked these three questions, "he
rolled his eyes, scoffed at the question and
answered, 'Nothing, nothing, nothing, respectively.' "
Justice says that the surgeon was told that he was
only seeing the human heart through the eyes of a
surgeon, and it was time to see the heart through
the eyes of a poet or an artist.
"When he returned to the group, he told how he had
tried to change his eyes and for the first time in his
career, a patient reached out and hugged him. The
physician was floored, and forever changed," Justice
recalls.
7. Connect your mind to your body