As we move through this first work week of the New Year — a shortened week, which is good, I want to say…
…Thank you, God, for another day, and another chance to be my Highest Self! Thank you for this life and for the wonder of this moment. Thank you for everything that has ever happened to me, is happening now, and ever will happen. For all of it has produced the perfection of this next breath, and the glory of Who I Am now going to be. Amen, and amen.
My thought as we start this New Year is that it is good for me to begin each day with gratitude. And then, it is good if, as I get into the shower, I break into song. How about this one, which is, I believe, from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! The lyrics are…

Oh, what a beautiful morning!
Oh, what a beautiful day!
I’ve got a wonderful feeling
everything’s goin’ my way…
Oh, what a beautiful day!
Then, when I get to the mirror to shave and comb my hair, I smile. That’s right, I throw a big smile at myself! Do know that you are physically unable to hold onto negative energy of any kind if you smile? Smiling disintegrates it. Do you know it’s impossible to remain grouchy if you sing? Singing disallows it! Do you know that you cannot express true anger when you are expressing true gratitude? The two are mutually exclusive.
Use this simple little formula and you will start off every day with a mindset that will change what occurs in the hours that follow. This is important to understand. What you experience in your life is a direct result of the energy you call in.
Here’s something else I try to do each morning that has profoundly affected my quality of life. I try to…

…read or write something sacred and holy. Something meaningful and important. Something soft and warm and wonderful. Something about God and Life and Love, and how to experience all three at the highest level ever. Then I put down my reading or writing and I take a moment to quietly forgive. I forgive everybody for everything. And I include myself in that forgiveness circle.

And so, as we begin the first new work week of the first new month of this new year, here is a five step formula for opening each day:
1. Gratitude
2. Song
3. Smile
4. Sacred Nourishment
5. Forgiveness
Not necessarily in that order. But touch all five if you can. If you do, I dare you to walk out of the bedroom in a dark space or a bad mood or in a grumpy state of mind. Dare you, dare you, double dare you! You can’t! You won’t! It’s impossible!
Now I want you to do two more things and your relationship with your Significant Other will become once again the territory for bliss and growth and love abounding that it was at the beginning and was meant to be always.
1. Think of your Beloved Other, whoever is closest to you right now, and prepare a present for that person in your heart and mind, offering it to him or her before the day is out. One every day.
2. Close each day with a recital to your Beloved: “What I am grateful to you for this day…”, and offer a verbal list of those items, describing each in detail.
Now I want you to do three final things each day and your whole life will change, not just your morning or your relationship.
1. Move through your day knowing that you walk with God and that God walks with you, and that another human being is going to be coming to you this day for whom you will have a gift in your hands. You do not know what that gift is right now, but it doesn’t matter. You will know when God brings that person to you.
2. Do something courageous and outrageous in the next 12 hours, and do one courageous/outrageous thing every day. Then reach out and get whatever life has to offer this day. Take it with gusto, for it is your gift from life!
3. Be good to yourself this evening. Give yourself some small treat, whatever it may be, and pamper yourself in this way, saying “thanks” to you and to God for the wonderful experience of living fully this day.
This is my Ten Step Method for Achieving Daily Happiness. I don’t worry about setting long range goals or meeting daily objectives or driving projects forward and using my time wisely or any of those things we hear about from motivational speakers and success trainers. I just use Gratitude, Giving, Getting, and God – the Four G’s – as my pathway to fulfillment and joy, and they take me there every time.
This is an encore presentation of this material here in the blog. I was thinking of what I might share with all of you today as we move toward the close of this first work week 2008, and I reached back into a previous entry to find these words from months ago. Hope you enjoyed them! Let’s start out 2008 in a great place!