Attitude of Gratitude

        It's been a couple of weeks now since I started my daily gratitude journal, and already I am seeing some positive changes.  The journal is formatted that there is a morning and evening portion.  The morning portion starts out by asking three things that you are grateful for, it then asks you what three things would make this day great, and lastly, it asks for a couple of daily affirmations or "I am's".   The evening portion follows-up from the morning by asking what three things went really well today, and what could you have done better?

        My favourite part of this journal has been the "What 3 things would make this day great?", and "What 3 things went well today?", because I've been noticing that they've been aligning for the most part.  If you're a spiritualist, then this could be explained by manifesting the outcome you want by putting that energy out into the universe.  I also believe that this new routine of mine has been setting my mindset for the day, and I've been creating these opportunities for myself.  Huh, that sounds familiar, that part about creating opportunities... sounds very much like something we're told in Kung Fu.

        This shift in mindset has not only helped in my day-to-day activities, but in my relationships with people, in my work, and in my Kung Fu.  By setting these intentions, I am subconsciously laser focusing in on what I want to accomplish, and that includes my training.  Kind of how we set our mindset the moment we walk onto the mats, or actually before we step onto the mats.  We reset our mind and leave our baggage at the door (easier said than done sometimes), and then we bow before stepping onto the mats, perhaps our first physical cue to create the desired headspace.  The big one is the bow to our instructors and saying "Past Masters", before beginning class with our warm-up.  We've talked before about how the Kwoon is set-up to create an environment of learning, everything you see has a purpose; but I think that starts with the landscape of our mind when we enter the building.  We have to set our intention that we are there to learn and what this place means to us, if we want to get the most out of the experience.

        I'm going to end the blog there, before I really go off on a tangent.  Whether it's a gratitude journal, a blog, or any other kind of journaling, think about the intentions you are setting and what it is you hope to get out of the day, your training, life.  It starts with you.