The human mind excels at noticing what it lacks. As we approach the New Year, many of us are focused on expressing our wishes and intentions. Here’s a counterintuitive suggestion to help actualize your intentions: Spend these remaining weeks of 2024 focusing on appreciation.

In my experience, cultivating appreciation opens pathways to prosperity, while a mindset of wanting or desperation leads to stagnation or suffering. Check out your own experience: notice how you feel when you’re craving a friend’s house versus when you’re appreciating their beautiful home. Or observe the difference between wanting a difficult colleague to change versus appreciating something about them, even as you acknowledge their shortcomings. What sensations/emotions arise in your body when you frame situations in these different ways?

When I ponder what I want, my body responds - my shoulders tense, my vision narrows, and my chin lurches forward. Recently, after selling my car, I caught myself wanting a fancy newer model. Peace of mind came when I began appreciating the 7 years my former car steadily served me and the convenience of ride-sharing services like LYFT and Uber. (Next month, I’ll share the financial results of living without a car!)

Could focusing on appreciation, rather than wanting, really create a clearer path to prosperity? While this might sound idealistic, research supports the benefits of gratitude. When we stop wanting things to be different, we’re inviting the mind to appreciate what we have, to believe that we have enough, that we are enough. 

Here’s your challenge: 

• Recognize the money, time, and friends already present in your life. Every time the mind dwells on what’s missing, gently redirect it toward gratitude, perhaps for a certain person, a beloved pet, or your home. 
• Reflect on how much time during the past year you’ve spent wanting versus appreciating. If you’re honest, has the time spent wanting been as productive as the time spent appreciating?

Will you join me in making 2025 a year where appreciation takes center stage? You've mastered wanting; let’s master appreciating! 

Here are the potential benefits:

- Gratitude energizes us to take beneficial actions. 

- The practice of gratitude rewires the brain so it’s easier to notice what’s positive versus what’s negative. 

- Appreciation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting calm and optimal brain function - when we’re at ease in this state,  we tend to see more opportunities than obstacles.

Making the shift from wanting to appreciating isn't about denying our desires or suppressing our goals. Rather, it's about building our capacity for contentment while we work toward what matters to us. Start small – perhaps with a daily moment of conscious gratitude for your morning coffee or a good night of sleep. Let this practice ripple outward into bigger appreciations.