Gratitude - an Antidepressant

I heard the other day from a doctor that gratitude is more effective than antidepressants. 

And obviously, no side effects from gratitude, lol.

But seriously, gratitude is a great thing and if we can incorporate it every single day, it can even help our depression.  Sure, if may not bring us out of the throws of a deep depression, but it's still extremely beneficial.  And not harmful, right?  So why not try it?

I also heard on Super Soul Sunday that we should not just see a flower and think, "oh, how pretty" and then continue walking past it. 

But really look at the flower and it's beauty.  Immerse yourself in the feelings of gratitude of how pretty the flower is and all it's intricacies.  Feeling and appreciating the gratitude of why it looks so beautiful and be thankful you even came across it.

For instance, nice yellow flower in the pic, right?  But look how pretty it REALLY is.  How the middle part (called a "pistil") is larger than most and notice how so many layers of petals it has.  What a beauty, right?  Otherwise, we might walk by and just think, "oh, hey, a yellow flower."

Gratitude.  

Trust Your Life

I heard over the weekend another helpful bit of advice for this "purpose" we all seek.  I wrote back in the Spring that my bucket runneth over enlightenment had been extremely helpful!

Well, doesn't mean I still don't struggle with purpose at times.  It doesn't help I'm ending a dream I have worked on for the last 6 years (I run a billiards tour that will end at the end of the year).

A month or so ago a coworker and I were talking about purpose, as he and his wife discuss that very feeling a lot as well.  He told me that in a Ted Talk, he heard someone say once that people who are poor and/or living in tough conditions never think about their purpose in life.  They are trying to find food and survive that day, so they don't have these life purpose worries and concerns that we struggle with.

I thought that was very interesting.

And over the weekend, Oprah was talking to Brother David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk, on her show, Super Soul Sunday, and among the many great things he shared was to trust your life.  Think about that.  If you sincerely trust your life, then you should have no worries about your purpose.  I trust God and his plans for me and my life, and therefore, I trust my life.  And should stop struggling and trying to figure out this purpose thing and realize it's all going to be okay.