Your focus is the Key.

Imagine, for just a moment with me that you are in this huge mansion with many doors, all different colors and shapes and with many different designs.  You walk around and around trying to figure out which one should you attempt to go through and even see if it opens up.  You ask yourself, ” Where are the keys, how do I open the door? ” Well this is a question I believe we are all faced with at some point in our lives. How do I open the door to the many possibilities that are available to me, how to I open the door to love, how do I open the door to seeing life as a wonderful canvas in which I am the painter, in which my hands, my words and my actions are the colors of which I apply to this beautiful painting. 

 As I work with many people who come to me afflicted with the addiction of Gambling and as I work with my own processes of moving beyond my limitations, I have come to understand that the key is in the Art of Appreciation.  Much has been written as to the value of utilizing this tool in our lives, but I do not believe people really understand the full power of something as simple as stoping to appreciate the gift of life in the moment, the gift of a beautiful flower or a blue sky sprinlked with cotton balls of clouds creating shapes and faces for us to smile and see the beauty of life.

I have worked with a very wise woman for many years that always said,  Appreciation is the key.” Many of the Gamblers that come for help ask , ” How do I go on , how do I reapir the damage that has been done to my family?”  My response is always as this wise one always said to me. ” You must first begin with appreciation of the small things.”  It is what you focus on constantly that creates your reality, even if you are focusing on chasing those losses that is what sets up the addictive cycle, you have no control over it. If you begin to focus your attention on the things in your life that you appreciate it begins to fire different neurons in your brain and this is the ultimate goal that we want to accomplish. 

 Changing those behavioral patterns that lead us to places and rooms we do not want to enter. The Magic Key is in Aprreciation.  Try the key; put it in the door and turn the key.  Make a list of ten things you appreciate every day of your life.  Change your focus and paint the canvas of your life as you want it to be.

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