Yes, it might feel great to win the lottery. Money, houses, travel - these are wonderful, but not enough by themselves. You need the right frame of mind to fully enjoy life. You need the attitude of gratitude.
Be Grateful
Life is better when you feel blessed Leonardo Bonucci Italy Jersey , when you can look around and say "Thank you, God." Religious or not, when you see life as a wonderful gift, your experience is a richer one than any amount of money can provide. Imagine going through life like you're a child, and every morning is Christmas.
It's tempting to think gatitude comes from having what you want. You see yourself giving thanks if you had money Graziano Pelle Italy Jersey , a loving family, and maybe a house on the beach. Still, you know there are ungrateful, unhappy people with these things, and poor people full of gratitude for what little they have. Where does this feeling come from?
Creating Gratitude
Gratitude arises from how you look at things. It is the natural feeling that comes from truly appreciating the people and things in your life. It is also something you can learn.
First Giorgio Chiellini Italy Jersey , you have to stop and smell the roses. You can't be thankful for something you don't notice or enjoy. Roses really do smell great, by the way.
Then, you need to make this appreciative approach to roses and life a habit. There's no need to ignore the ugliness in the world, but you have to habitually see the beautiful things.
Start writing down every positive thing that happens to you, and all the things you like. Do this until you start automatically seeing the good things in life. If you've ever bought a white car Gianluigi Buffon Italy Jersey , and started seeing white cars all over, you know how awareness can alter your perception of reality. To see wonderful things all over, train yourself to look for them.
Wnen you are in the habit of "counting your blessings," gratitude, and a much richer experience of life is the natural result.
Yes Giacomo Bonaventura Italy Jersey , that pillar of society that has been with us since that slithery dude threw humanity for a curve in the Garden of Eden ? that cornerstone of society has been automated.
I am speaking, of course, of the public nuisance ( I wrote about him in Part 1 at )
No longer do pests have to come around in restaurants and train stations and villages singing loudly and playing their harpsichords. We now have machines to do that for us ? machines like televisions and radios and elevator muzak and backfiring Mustangs.
In the olden days, you could just throw a brick at a public nuisance, and that would usually shut him up for two minutes ? five if the brick hit its mark.
But it's harder to throw a brick at a TV Francesco Acerbi Italy Jersey , because bar owners send bloodthirsty lawyers after you, something the old-fashioned public nuisances knew nothing about. And how can you throw a brick at the shadowy creature producing elevator muzak?
So it was inevitable that some guy named Mitch Altman would invent a high-tech way to neutralize those high-tech public nuisances. It's an infrared keychain called TV-B-Gone that shuts off intrusive TVs remotely.
"Hey I was watching that show," calls out the six-foot-four, burly guy at the bar. "Whoever zapped my show has five second to unzap it., or I'll get off this stool." Oh Federico Marchetti Italy Jersey , well. I suppose there are still a few technical adjustments to tinker with.
But I was thinking, "Hey. I could invent something useful like that. I could invent a high-tech brick to shut down those high-tech public nuisances for at least five minutes." So I did.
First, I set out to defeat muzak. I invented a device called the Automated Elevator Hostage Taker. I was so excited, I decided to take it for a test drive. I found a really high building and headed straight for the elevator.
Half way up, I activated my Automated Elevator Hostage Taker. "Aha!" I called out. "We have your elevator hostage. If you shut the muzak off Federico Bernardeschi Italy Jersey , we will release it unharmed."
The other passengers looked at me like I had a purple horn growing out of one ear.
"I said, turn off the muzak and your elevator won't be harmed."
One passenger was starting to get interested. "What the *% do you think you're doing?"
I was positively giddy that my fellow passengers were so eager to participate. One of them even wanted to get his hands on my Automated Elevator Hostage Taker, but for public safety reasons I couldn't let it into untrained hands until it had been fully tested in both laboratory and field conditions.
"How did your test drive go?" my wife asked.
I looked up at her from my hospital bed. "I think the next prototype will be equipped with life insurance."
Fortunately, I came up with another invention as soon as I recovered. I call it the Tailpipe Plug-in. Cars emit the most ghastly-smelling fumes. No. Wait. I take that back. Cars emit the second-most ghastly-smelling fumes. Diesel buses emit the most ghastly-smelling fumes.
But those days will soon be over, as people arm themselves with their personal Tailpipe Plug-ins.
"How does it work?" my wife asked.
"So glad you asked. It uses spidey technology."
"Spidey technology?" she looked puzzled.
"That's right. You know Emanuele Giaccherini Italy Jersey , like Spiderman. Let's say a bus come within a few yards and threatens to belch out yucky black stinky stuff. You just flick your wrist like this..."
SPLAT! BANG! CRASH!
"Oops."
"You knocked over my prize lamp and broke it. And what's this ugly goop splattered all over the carpet and the wall? Yuck. Get it off," my wife demanded.