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There was a time, not too many centuries ago, when most people struggled just to survive. The tribes/families/towns, where people lived, depended on each other to survive and thrive.

As the years passed, and people began to accumulate more “things,” the level of respect for others and gratitude dropped in ways that were astounding. These days, young people rarely say “please” and “thank you” and very few people step in to help when they see someone in trouble.

The culture of more is intentional manipulation that was created many years ago and has been leveraged in every industry.

The culture of more has created a society of scarcity and selfishness instead of abundance and thankfulness. I have discovered that being thankful needs to be a proactive, consistent and intentional habit. That is, create a daily system in your life where you stop and list the people and situations that have helped you.

If you choose to begin every day with an attitude of abundance and thankfulness you begin to see things that you totally ignored for years. You will see examples of kindness in ways you never noticed. You will see opportunities to serve others when, in the past, you would have never considered it.

In A.A. Milne’s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” he writes, “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

A thankful mindset transforms your brain from “needing more” to an “enough” way of thinking. The thankful mindset says, “my cup is not empty…it is full and overflowing.” This can be difficult when life is going “sideways” because all you might want is for life to just give you a chance…somehow…somewhere. I share these words from experience.

Gratitude stimulates the release of dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters responsible for feelings of happiness and contentment. Regular acts of thankfulness create positive feedback loops in the brain that reinforces optimistic thinking and reduces feelings of anxiety and depression.

Choosing to be thankful daily creates mental and emotional levels of potential that you cannot imagine. It literally “opens doors” to experiencing a life that you never thought existed.

Walk away from the culture of more. You deserve a much better life and that begins with a daily habit of thankfulness.

I leave you today, with gratitude for reading my words, with the beautiful advice of author Germany Kent: “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”