Gratitude can change your life

'Life is what you make it' has now made it to Number Seven on Top Ten fiction list of Hindustan Times!

It is indeed a joyous moment. There is also an article [ it has a nice picture of me too ;-) ]  in Times of India Mumbai,yesterday, which features me and a few other blogger-turned authors.Click here to read the article.

I have been flooded with mails and I am truly overwhelmed by the amount of love and appreciation I am getting from all of you. On my FB page, I finally had to put  up this message (to which I again got so many responses too!):

Hey guys,
Till now I had managed to reply to each and every person who sent me a mail. But now the mails have started POURING in with my second book. Struggling to cope with this many!! Please bear with delay in responses :)
Much love!
Preeti

Many people write to me saying my life sounds like a perfect life and it seems like I live in a fairy tale! Some openly say they are jealous of me! I find that emotion really hard to understand!I have worked hard to get everything that I have today.(touch wood) My life is just as ordinary or as enchanting as yours. It is just that I always look at the brighter side and I do feel very  fortunate for all my blessings which I keep affirming.

One thing that I have truly learnt from life is that what Jerry and Esther Hicks keep teaching is indeed one hundred percent true. The laws of attraction do work. Positivity does work wonders. Once you understand (and practise) this simple but profound key, paths magically open up.(I am indeed a believer of Rhonda Byrne's Secret).

So many people tell me that I am one truly positive person and ask me how I can be so happy all the time. Trust me, I have my really down moments too (ask my husband and kids and my closest friends), but I crib only rarely. Even in the bleakest of situations, I am indeed able to quickly bounce back and see the bright side.

One of the things which has worked for me to be able to do this is journalling.I do maintain lots of  journals. One of them is a hand-written little gratitude journal in which I simply write down things I am grateful for. I do not do it every day and I update it whenever I feel particularly good about something someone did for me or something that happened. Once I write this, it is a total 'pick me up'. 

If things are not going right for you, if something that you want very badly is eluding you, if someone has been really unfair to you, if the one you love has left you, if that promotion at work has not been happening, if life is totally treating you bad, then it is indeed time to GRAB happiness. Start a gratitude journal today.

Here's how you do it:

Walk into a nice stationary shop and go through the journals on display for sale. Run your hands on their covers. Look inside and see if there is adequate spacing. Do you prefer a plain one or one with lines? Do you want one with handmade paper or do you want a sleek modern one? Do you want a mole-skin one or a leather bound one? Choose one which makes you feel totally happy.

Now choose a nice pen too and keep the journal and the pen beside your bed. You are ready to start.

At the end of the day, write down whatever little thing has made you feel good. You are not allowed to write any negative things in this journal. Did it rain today? Did the smell of rain make you feel happy? Write it down!

Remember there are no rules for what you can write or how much you should write. Write it as long as it makes you feel good and happy. The only rule is no negativity.

All my entries start with date and time at the corner and has the title 'Things I am grateful for today.' 

The more you get into this habit, the more you find things to be grateful for. You are at peace with yourself,because suddenly you realise that there is truly a LOT to look forward to in life, which you have been ignoring as the blanket of negativity which you had earlier enveloped yourself with, was clouding your judgement.

Try it!  Follow it sincerely. Believe in it and it will indeed change your life and fill you with happiness and peace.