Appreciation

That daily life is really good one appreciates when one wakes from a horrible dream, or when one takes the first outing after a sickness. Why not realize it now? – William Lyon Phelps
When I was much younger I was complaining about how depressed I was and how my life was not what I wanted it to be. A doctor (my fiancé at the time) looked at me and said, “The day you cannot put your feet on the ground and get out of bed is the day you have a problem. What are you complaining about?”  I never forgot that day or his words of wisdom.
My mother is a cancer survivor.  She always told me that if you have your health you have everything.  Some times however it takes an illness or a scare in life to make us appreciate the beauty and wonders of life.
In yoga mantras or affirmations are used to produce certain consciousness mind states. The first root ‘man’ actually means continual or constant thinking and the root ‘tra’ means ‘to be free’.  So mantra means to free the consciousness from worries and troubles by continually thinking or repeating a positive and affirmative sound. The best known mantra is the sound ’om’ which is the sound of peace. It is usually chanted at the end of a yoga class.
The word mantra also means thought form.  It is about how to crystallize thought forms into the world by repeating a sound over and over until it manifest into it’s physical equivalent. Ultimately all things in the universe are a result of thought forms from the consciousness of reality.  Appreciation is simply a thought form.
You are as you think, speak, and act and therefore it is important to be consciously aware of your thoughts, words, and deeds.  They are the manifestation of you and your life.  Appreciation of life begins with constant and focused thoughts that are positive and that see the beauty and wonder of life. 
Appreciation is a by-product of wisdom. A wise person understands that life is full of perils and that in a moment all of life can change. A wise person understands that we have no control over what happens next.  We can only control our attitudes and perceptions from moment to moment and how we perceive and live is how our lives will unfold.
Illness, death, and tragedy come along not to hurt us but to give us a deeper appreciation for the simple things in life. A smile, a hug, a laugh, the sunlight, the rain, the day, the night, love, children, family, home, a good meal, a friend, a flower, the ocean, the earth, and all of humankind.  Take a moment out of your day and sit quietly and absorb the feeling, the consciousness, and the experience of appreciating just one thing in your life. Hold onto it and appreciate it in the present moment and realize it now.
Doctor Lynn
www.doctorlynn.com