Appreciation

 Hello again Natural Health Family. Over the weekend I had the chance to talk to an older age group and see a different perspective on aspects of life. I listened to what they had gone through in their lives and how it allowed them to view the world through a different lens. Today I wanted to talk about appreciation and how looking at life differently can help us. 

Life is quite an amazing journey. When we look back we can see all the trials and tribulations that have led us to where we are today. However, many times people get caught up looking at all the issues that happened in their lives. They see all the chaos in the world and think why all this wrong is happening. They start to criticize and blame situations in life and see themselves as a victim. People can fall into this habit of thinking because of all the information out there. Our minds tend to focus not on the good but on the bad. This is because the mind tries to focus on survival and how to avoid danger. This was adaptive back in the day when we needed to be cautious of our environment and not merely guess of any danger. This is no longer the case anymore.

When we think back to all the challenges and obstacles that we face it can seem like a daunting task. We may start to get frustrated or upset easier even with little things in our lives. However, when we think back to those same things in the past we can see that they were happenings that helped get us to where we are today. When we look at it through a broader perspective we can see that they were needed for our progress. That is why they say hindsight is 20/20. It means that we can see it more clearly. Life can seem to throw us curve balls or unexpected obstacles our way. When this happens we can practice patience knowing that it soon shall pass and we will come out brighter on the other side. 

Taking a step back and seeing our life and the world through a broader perspective we can notice that things that may seem to be falling apart are actually falling into place. We can then instead of criticizing everything in the world and what life brings to us we can be appreciative of what we have now. Purposefully looking more for all the good in the world we train our brains to see more of it. Having appreciation for the different things that we have and the lessons that we have learned through trial and error helps our bodies to be in a mode for health and healing. 

Practicing appreciation may seem like another fad that you hear about every now and then. However, research shows the positive influences it has on our health. So I encourage you now to think of some things that you can be appreciative of and start to look for more of the good in your life. As always, thanks for reading. 

Dr. Chip