Part 1.………….To say the view out my back window is a heaven of sorts is no exaggeration…Whether you believe in a heaven or nirvana or on to your next life, the importance of gratitude in this life cannot be underestimated. Gratitude, the new buzz word, is a valuable daily practice.

...Part 3

Do you think, the issue you need to be concerned about is social media and how it impacts you? It’s an interactive medium. It’s takes two to tango. I think we instead need to focus on gratitude, and on that little bit of heaven that already exists in our lives. Those thoughts don’t just happen. That needs commitment. Social media provides a distraction. I’m not sure it does much more than that for the person you are or I am. It certainly hasn’t made anyone I’ve ever met feel fabulous about themselves. In fairness social media did not invent fabulousness. At some point in your life, if not now, you compared yourself to others, and rated yourself accordingly, to your scale of whatever societal norms or marketing genius you were exposed to. Nobody ever felt fabulous all of the time. It is though important to feel fabulous occasionally. Peace regularly and grateful no matter what.

We now know we can change the physical anatomy in our brains. It’s called neuroplasticity. If you want to get excited about something in your life, get excited about knowing that. Not about a social media post! Your body has the ability to grow new neurons, new pathways, new ways of thinking, new ways of feeling. You create the pathways you focus on. You might not be in a great headspace today, but in you lies the ability to become your version of fabulous occasionally. More often than that, is probably a sign of madness! Or perhaps, which is often the case, you realise you already are amazing. Somedays you believe it and others meh not so sure.

The view outside my window is not manicured green lawns or Dermot Bannons new garden. It’s a little wild, untamed, and loved. I am so grateful I can see it. I can walk outside and experience it. I can take a deep breath and fill my lungs with clean air. I can remember running through it as a child to my den in it’s corner.. with the family doggo at my childhood side. It is now vibrant alive surrounded by Winter colours and so am I. Heaven is a relative thing. Just think about your own version. The gratitude you have for your idea of heaven feels the same for everyone, who experiences gratitude.

Where do you find gratitude and how do you set your intensions everyday. I know you probably know this already but here you go regardless. Get yourself a notebook if you like to write. I've lost every notebook I've ever had so that was not the choice for me!! Alternatively, open up a new document and everyday you tap on those keys. This one I like.It’s in writing so I have committed to it. It is a statement in black and white and on some level my brain responds to that. This next option I don’t have the self discipline for, but you may have. Of course, you don’t have to write it, but you have to commit & create the habit of every morning when you wake up, it is the first thought you consciously think of. Then you sit with those thoughts for 5 minutes.

• I am grateful & I am on my way to feeling fabulous.

• I will meet and share the experience with people by smiling and making eye contact and thats it. A positive exchange. Stop and chat or not.

• I will make positive choices the are beneficial to my body.

That is all. Those 3 lines are plenty. Then you add actual experiences under each line. It doesn't matter if you are writing I am grateful for the bowl of cornflakes I just eat. Noooooo please don't do that to your body, salt and sugar are not things to be grateful for! I jest but stay away from the flakes! It is not what your content is that matters. If it is something simple like, I am grateful I woke up today, and therefor I am on my way to feeling fabulous. great. You keep going. You keep doing. You consistently train your brain and it becomes easier. You begin to see the beauty of life everywhere, in yourself, in the world, in the people around you. It is everywhere when you look.

3 lines of whatever works for you.

If that is all you write when you start that is more than enough. If you have a bad day fine, gratitude for the good ones and on you go. Gratitude grows. It takes on a life of it’s own.

Navigating your way through social media becomes much easier. No algorithm in the world can suck you in for very long, once you know in every sense of the word, you do dno’t need it in your life, to make you feel the fabulous. You already are. I’m not anti social media, it is a very useful tool. I just use it in the knowing it is not my reality, it is a reality all out there on it’s own.