• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Self Help Daily

Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...

  • Home
    • Tour Self Help Daily
    • Self Help Daily’s Archives
    • Privacy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Quotes
  • Self Help
    • Positive Thought
    • Health
    • Mental Fitness
    • Relationships
    • Self Growth
    • How to Be Happy
  • Book Reviews
You are here: Home / Self Help Daily / Book Reviews / How Something as Simple as Gratitude Can Chase the Blues Away

How Something as Simple as Gratitude Can Chase the Blues Away

January 3, 2014 by Joi 11 Comments

Book links are usually affiliate links. This means I earn a small percentage when you click through and buy the book. This costs you nothing extra - it simply allows me to keep my cats in the lifestyle they're accustomed to.

Living a Life of Gratitude

When you’re feeling blue, you don’t just want to feel better, you want to feel better INSTANTLY – as in 10 minutes ago. One of my favorite tricks for picking yourself back up is, at once, ridiculously easy and ridiculously hard.

Easy because it simply involves expressing gratitude and hard because that’s the last thing we feel like doing when we’re feeling down.  And yet, it’s the best – and fastest – way to snap out of a really rotten mood.

A while back, I was feeling kind of like a grump’s grump.  I could’ve given Oscar the Grouch a few pointers on sourness. I honestly can’t even remember what put me in such a way, but I distinctly remember just sitting and fuming on my living room couch for the better part of the morning.

It finally occurred to me that it really wasn’t much of a way to spend the day – especially one so close to Christmas. I decided to give my favorite “mood zapper” a try and, sure enough, after thinking of a few things (more like people) I was grateful for, the dark cloud lifted and whatever had gotten  me off course that morning suddenly didn’t seem so important.

The thing is, we can only entertain one dominant thought at a time – whether it’s a negative one or a positive one is just about entirely up to us. If we put our energy into focusing on positivity, there isn’t any room left for negativity. It has to pack up its nasty little bags and leave.

Good riddance.

A book I was recently sent to read and review fits perfectly with this approach AND it takes it one step further.  Living a Life of Gratitude (Your Journey o Grace, Joy & Healing), by Sara Wiseman, is a beautifully written book with a very powerful message.

What I love most about this lovely little book is this: It will help you to focus on gratitude, joy, and hopefulness BEFORE negativity has a chance to take root.

From the Introduction:

In the moment we give thanks, everything changes.

Our hearts crack open. We are flooded with love and light. And in that exact instant, we shift from our negative state to an awareness that positive, joyous, and brimming with bliss – we experience the Divine healing that is our birthright.

The trick is to learn how to create this moment not just once in our lifetimes, but over and over again.

The secret is found in gratitude – in the surrender to the grateful heart, the open heart, the heart that willingly walks in the magic and the mystery – not just for a moment or moments, but at all times. – Living a Life of Gratitude (Your Journey o Grace, Joy & Healing), by Sara Wiseman

From the Back Cover:

In the moment that we give thanks, everything changes . . .

. . . Our hearts crack open. We are flooded with love. And in that exact instant, we shift to an awareness that is positive, joyous, and brimming.

Sharing uplifting stories that travel from the beginnings of life to the end, Living a Life of Gratitude shows you how to open your heart to a journey of reflection that will help you slow down and appreciate life for what it is. Whether you use it as a source for discovering inspiration or for strength in times of struggle, this book is a guide to finding light and love, even when you least expect it.

I hope you’ll click through one of the links and read more about Living a Life of Gratitude (Your Journey o Grace, Joy & Healing), by Sara Wiseman. Read the reviews and even take a look inside the book.

One of the most important resolutions we could all make this year is one that few… very, very few… will actually make, and that is to simply be more grateful for all that we have and all that we are.

There’s a lot of peace, contentment, and joy in simply being thankful.

~ Joi

Filed Under: Book Reviews, General, How to Be Happy, Positive Thought Tagged With: being thankful, book review, gratitude, happiness

Previous Post: « Beautiful Quote of the Day by Thornton Wilder
Next Post: A Few Thoughts About Starting Over »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Martin says

    January 9, 2014 at 4:14 pm

    Great tip! On my reading list…

  2. steven says

    January 14, 2014 at 9:26 am

    It has to pack up its nasty little bags and leave.=****((((

  3. Tony Khuon | Agile Lifestyle says

    January 21, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    Making time for reflection, feedback, AND gratitude has made a huge change for me these past few years. Gratitude is more like a practice or a habit than a state of being. Doing it every day is critical. Thanks for the post!

  4. Alberto says

    March 9, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    Very interesting. In my country we have got a quote “is well born to be grateful”. However, not every time we thank the pleasure of the, it is a really good feeling when we do. I will try to remember every day your trick: “The trick is to learn how to create this moment not just once in our lifetimes, but over and over again.”

  5. Ela Florante says

    March 21, 2014 at 6:05 am

    Just want to share. For me, when I’m feeling down the best trick is to go somewhere you love a place or to somebody you love as for me its my grandmother’s place. I love talking to her no matter what it is we talk and it really pick’s me up instantly. Everybody always has a special place to go to.

  6. Rob McNelis says

    April 12, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    really like the look and feel of your site. Also, looking forward to reading more posts. Hit me up sometime 🙂

    Rob

  7. Sally says

    April 13, 2014 at 6:22 am

    I couldn’t agree more about the importance of gratitude. I’ve tried to make it a habit to go through the things I am grateful for every morning as I sip my first cup of coffee. It feels so much better than worrying about what could possibly go wrong through the day (what I used to do).

  8. Christopher James says

    May 2, 2014 at 2:43 am

    Sounds like a book worth checking out. Heading to Amazon now.

  9. Stuart A. Kaplowitz, MFT says

    May 9, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    Sounds like a great book.
    http://www.encouragingyourlife.com

  10. nick summer says

    August 5, 2014 at 5:51 am

    It was quite an inspiring book. I found another very inspiring book written by an indian author Dineshwar Dhadwal ‘The Homecoming’ available as ebook on Amazon. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great book of self helf

Trackbacks

  1. The Coffee Break Daily Issue No. 7 says:
    May 18, 2014 at 1:54 pm

    […] Review: Living a Life of Gratitude by Sara Wiseman […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Self Help Blog

Cat on Pine Mountain , Kentucky

Welcome to Self Help Daily, a blog devoted to helping you get the most from life by getting the most from yourself!

Read the story behind the picture above in How to Live in the Moment.

Positive Affirmation Cards


Positive Affirmation Cards (Amazon)

Contact Joi

My name is Joi (“Joy”)! I am the animal lover behind Self Help Daily.

To contact me, please do so through e-mail (joitsigers @ gmail.com). Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you! ~ Joi

Self Help Blog Updates

  • Learn to Enjoy Each Stage of Your Life
  • The First-Time Pet Owners Guide to Choosing a Dog Breed
  • Finding More Time for Reading in a Ridiculously Busy Day!
  • The – Almost – Lost Art of Greeting Cards: A History of Sentimentality 
  • Top Tips to Avoid Catching Winter Bugs
  • Remember How Free it Felt to Be a Kid? Yeah… Let’s Tap Back into That!
  • Always Have an Attitude of Gratitude ~ Sterling K. Brown
  • Managing Bladder Inconsistency in the Elderly

Featured Quote Graphics

Don't Quit Quote Graphic

Dr. Seuss Quote About Being Who You Are

Booker T. Washington Quote About Hate

Wayne Dyer Quote About Karma

Quote About Habits

Footer

Inspirational Quotes

  • Abraham Lincoln Quotes
  • Billy Graham Quotes
  • Booker T. Washington Quotes
  • Dale Carnegie Quotes
  • Maya Angelou Quotes
  • Mark Twain Quotes
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
  • Norman Vincent Peale Quotes

More Inspirational Quotes

❖ Self Help Daily Updates



Overcoming Empty Nest Syndrome

One of the questions I hear the most from my readers is, "How can I cope with empty nest syndrome?" I'll try to deal with this sensitive subject as often as possible. If you have any suggestions, I hope you'll contribute to the conversations!

  • Coping With Empty Nest Syndrome
  • Don't Just Cope in an Empty Nest, Thrive!
  • How to Be Happy in an Empty Nest
  • Overcoming Empty Nest Syndrome
Copyright Self Help Daily 2023