AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

How do we find the discipline to make celebration a habit? How do we turn a point of view into a practice?

Let’s begin with a simple exercise. I want you to think about the Seven Wonders of the World.

Wait. Not THOSE seven wonders. Not the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, or Machu Picchu. But the genuine seven wonders of the world – the ones that really matter.

To see. To hear. To smell. To taste. To touch. To laugh. To love.

Brings you up short, doesn’t it? Those really are the true seven wonders of our personal worlds. So, here’s what I’m going to ask you to do.

Every morning, when you first wake up, before you get out of bed, think about those seven wonders. What will you feel? Well, what are your feelings right now? Gratitude, right? That wonderful sensation of how lucky you are to be alive, with all your senses working, here on this incredible planet, this little blue ball in the middle of the giant universe.

Every morning I think about those seven wonders and I watch myself fill with gratitude. And that feeling of gratitude immediately brings forth, “THANK YOU!” Just, “THANK YOU!” I’m sure it will for you too. So, allow yourself to say it, out loud, “THANK YOU!” And then keep saying “THANK YOU!” as you go through your day every time you find something to celebrate in your life.

“THANK YOU!” Say it out loud if you can, so that others can hear it - so that you own it - “THANK YOU!”

I found in my own life that the more I practiced this little exercise, the more my feeling of gratitude grew. First, for the big things in my life. Then, more and more, for everything. Every cloud. Every tree. Every person. Every opportunity. Every breath.

Even the way I looked at my photographs changed. I found I wasn’t taking pictures anymore, rather I was making little visual prayers of thanks and gratitude.

To see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to touch, to laugh, to love. Most of us are lucky enough to be given five of these. Two we have to choose – to laugh and to love. And when I chose to celebrate what’s right with the world, I chose both. Joy over sadness. Gratitude over anger. Love over fear.

THIS, is a great place to begin making celebration a habit.