Have you been let down? Either by yourself or someone else. Perhaps a dream shattered before your very eyes.

It’s ok. It really is. Your well-meaning friends may say do not dwell on it yet that is like saying do not look at the white-elephant in the room. They simply can not relate to your pain.

Does replacing the letdown with gratitude actually change those hurtful negative feelings? Many say yes it does, but how?

We’ve all heard gratitude is an attitude. Gratitude is also a delightful virtue as refreshing as absorbing the sounds of misty waterfalls while smiling graciously with someone you love dearly and enjoy a tasty peanut-butter sandwich made with love. I enjoy rushing waterfalls and I love smiling so sign me up for this gratitude thing. I tested it and I find it works!

How is this peace-giving quality (gratitude) helpful during a season of disappointment and tricky trials? The answer is simple. Being grateful focuses on the “positive” and shows you all the prized and precious things currently in your life while eliminating room in your mind of the things you do not have and may never have.

Gleefully focus on the good. In the past, I drafted my top-ten list of things I am grateful for. Unfortunately the list tends to get buried along with more than 3,500 notes in my virtual notepad rendering it bootless.

The problem with such lists are they are cold and dry and have no real life in them anyway. In David Letterman style, the “top-ten” list fades quicker than store-bought cut flowers void of any fresh water and a vase left in a parked Texas car with the windows sealed on a blazing hot summer day.

On my journey I discovered a new technique and it is not simply “count your blessings” and jot them down. Visualizing your blessings is much more powerful. The magic key is in VISUALATION.

Let’ call it the “Golden-Tablet.”

Now picture this. This iPad-type tablet is neither silver, white or black, it is as golden as a break of day New Jersey sunrise and it is imaginary. Everybody owns one. This “Golden-Tablet” exists only when your eyes are closed and you replace the image of the Apple on it with a bright image of what you are most grateful for today.

The image implanted in this 24-karat gold frame is a vivid picture
displaying one really good-thing currently in your life and is joyfully personal to you. You already own and treasure this one-thing and you love having it.

Close your eyes and see this glittering “Golden-Tablet” inside your focused forehead. What is dashing across the colorful screen? Imagine it, bring it to the front of your mind. Don’t make a wish-list here, place that one really good-thing that you are thankful for inside the frame.

Do you see it? I know you do. Now smile and thank God for it with a deep joyful sigh of relief. I trust your sincere smile is expressing this real-life gracious moment of gratitude.

This quick turn-around of nonproductive disappointment and my desire to help others that took their lumps along the way prompted me to write this powerful recipe today. Let’s always be happy!

The calmness from this exercise feels awesome, doesn’t it? The disappointment fades away with Letterman’s list. Hopefully you shifted gears and feel good when focusing on your “Golden-Tablet.” Do you hear the waterfalls cascading at full-force? Are you in a state of euphoria? I am! God bless peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.