The Power of Gratitude

On a recent episode of the Dr. Oz show, he had special guest Dr. Andrew Weil share his holistic secrets. 


One of those secrets is the POWER OF GRATITUDE.  Watch video below as Dr. Weil shares how practicing gratitude can boost your mood and improve your life!!


http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-andrew-weils-holistic-secrets-pt-3


Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. ~ Rabbi Harold Kushner


Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ~William Arthur Ward

3 Things to be Thankful for Today

Practicing gratitude is one of the best habits we can develop.  It not only changes our lives, but it affects others around us.  Our gratitude is like a positive energy that can inspire and energize others.  I knew a woman who always confessed that she had a black cloud that followed her wherever she went.  And guess what, it did!  That black cloud was her negativity and lack of gratitude. Although she had much to be thankful for and some good opportunities in her life, she always found something to grumble and complain about.  This woman was one of the most unhappy people I have ever known. The black cloud kept her in darkness, clouding her hopes, dimming her outlook, and constantly attracting more negativity and problems in her life.  This only reinforced her self-destructive attitude.

Negativity surrounds a person who cannot find the good or be thankful for even the simplest blessings.  Being thankful is a way of life. It is a way of thinking that affects how we feel and what we do.  To make it a part of our life, we must practice it.  A great way to do this is to think of at least 3 things every day that you can be thankful for.  At the end of the day, before going to sleep, think about all the things that were good and give thanks for them. Record them in a journal if you would like.  When I first started this years ago, it wasn't long before my list grew to many more than three things each day.  Before I knew it, I was feeling really positive.  I realized that there are simple little things we don't even give a second thought that are blessings to us.  I came across a beautiful quote that illustrates this perfectly:


I'm thankful for a pair of shoes that feel really good on my feet; I like my shoes.
I'm thankful for the birds; I feel like they're singing just for me when I get up in the morning... Saying, 'Good morning, John. You made it, John.'
I'm thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.

I'm thankful...
Johnny Cash


Can you think of three things you are thankful for today?




In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.
~Brother David Steindl-Rast






Copyright © 2011 Krystal Kuehn, New Day Family and Couples Counseling Center. All Rights Reserved.





Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family marriage counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Krystal is also author of The 10 Keys to Happy and Loving Relationships and several other blogs: Words of Inspiration, Baby Poems blog & Be Your Best blog.





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7 Reasons to Set New Goals

One thing I absolutely love about a new year, or a new day for that matter, is that it gives us a fresh start to set new goals and implement new plans to pursue and achieve.  I have recently set some new goals that have been keeping me very busy, motivated, and excited.  One of my many goals began about three weeks ago.  I cut desserts out of my diet.  It started with a chocolate fast.  I was literally consuming at least one bar or 5 pieces of dark chocolate every day, and that is not including cookies, icecream and other desserts I love.  It wasn't until I went the doctor's for a sinus infection and got weighed in that I decided to set that new goal.  It was motivated by my surprise in learning that I had gained almost 10 pounds.  As long as I exercised I figured I could have my daily desserts.  I was wrong!  Anyways, I set the goal of losing the weight by cutting chocolate out of my diet.  I started with that and then added cookies and eventually all dessert.  To my surprise, I no longer crave sweets like I did before.  Still, I would love to have at least a little of my favorite dark chocolate.  But knowing myself and the chocoholic I am, it's just easier to abstain completely for now.  I still have a bag full of my favorite dark chocolate on the side of my desk just to tempt me.  Actually, it's a reminder that I can do without it if I must.

Weight loss has been just one of my goals.  I have set others as well and I am amazed at how motivated they keepn  me.  One thing I believe is that we must set goals for the things we love to do.  Personally, my musical goals keep me interested, challenged, and provide a lot of fun and enjoyment in my life.  I decided this year to devote a portion of my time to really enjoying and appreciating my artistic interests.  We all need a healthy balance of work and play.  I encourage everyone to add pleasurable activities and goals to their lives as much as possible. 

Setting new goals can be very exciting and rewarding.  I was recently thinking about the many reasons I am thankful for new goals. Goal setting has many benefits!  I came up with 7 reasons to set new goals. I am sure there are many more.  Please feel free to add to the list. 

1. Goals give us something to look forward to, anticipate, expect.
2. Goals require us to make plans that we can pursue and achieve.
3. Goals help to refine our focus and vision.
4. Goals can spark our dreams and hopes and help us move toward them.
5. Goals give us the opportunity to learn, grow, change and improve.
6.  Goals keep us moving forward.
7. Goals keep us busy, occupied and productive.

Setting new goals is a great way to start the new year and it is something we can do every day.  For specific steps, go to my article: 5 Steps to Goal Setting Successful.


Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life. ~Les Brown

If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else. ~Yogi Berra

Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.  ~Viktor Frankl

There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something. ~Henry Ford

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. ~Seneca

It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Copyright © 2011 Krystal Kuehn, New Day Family and Couples Counseling Center. All Rights Reserved.



Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family counseling marriage counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Krystal is also author of The 10 Keys to Happy and Loving Relationships and several blogs: Give Thanks Journal, Baby Poems blog & Be Your Best blog.


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Family Traditions - Why Should We Keep Them?

I am thankful for...family traditions

The holidays are some of the best times and opportunities we have to continue our family traditions.  Many of us can recall how our families celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or birthdays every year.  There are some extra special traditions we may remember.  Maybe every Christmas we got together with our grandparents or we went out of town to visit friends or family members.  Maybe there was a certain dish we especially enjoyed that was prepared specifically for Thanksgiving day.

Traditions can hold very special meaning and memories for us. I remember learning about their importance to our emotional health and well-being back in my first semester of grad school.  Traditions contribute to our overall sense of connectedness, family, continuity, and identity.  They give us something that is socially, emotionally, and spiritually meaningful to carry on.  As I reflected upon this recently, I thought about my own family traditions.  One that came to mind was the New Year's blessing.  Every New Year's Eve, as far back as I can recall, my mother would make a traditional Macedonian dish (cora, aka burek).  Before baking it, she would hide a wrapped coin inside of it.  When our family gathered around to enjoy this delicious dish, we would cut it into pieces like a pie.  The big round pan would then be spun 3 times.  The piece directly in front of each person would be the one designated to him or her. The remaining pieces would be designated to other important people or work in our lives.  We would then enjoy the burek with homemade yogurt and eventually the coin would be found.  The fortunate person would then be named as the recipient of the coming year's extra special blessings of abundant prosperity.  I always look forward to this fun tradition.  We still continue the tradition every year with our children.  They also enjoy it and look forward to this tradtion.  It's especially fun seeing who will get the special blessing. 

I am thankful for family traditions and I especially like those that continue on to the next generation.  We don't keep all of them, but we do remember the meaning they had and how they enriched our lives.  This year we will continue with our New Year's blessing tradition as well as singing and playing Christmas carols, gathering together, and having a wonderful feast of fun and family time!

May you enjoy some of your family traditions this year and remember to give many thanks for them.

Have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!

May your New Year be filled with many blessings, new beginnings, good health, prosperity, peace, true joy and God's unending love!


P.S.  Let us remember our military and all those who will not be spending the holidays with their families and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.  May God bless them and keep them safe.  May He be gracious to them and give them peace. 

P.S.S.  I absolutely love the classic musical:  Fiddler on the Roof.  In it, Tevye (Topol), a poor milkman with 5 daughters, talks about tradition. He says, "Without traditions our lives would be shaky as a fiddler on the roof."    To hear the fun song from the movie, click here

Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, it means that the dead are living. ~Harold Macmillan



Tradition simply means that we need to end what began well and continue what is worth continuing ~ Jose Bergamin

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes -- our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking around. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton

The merry family gatherings
The old, the very young;
The strangely lovely way they
Harmonize in carols sung.
For Christmas is tradition time
Traditions that recall
The precious memories down the years,
The sameness of them all.
~Helen Lowrie Marshall




Copyright © 2010 Krystal Kuehn, New Day Counseling. All Rights Reserved.


Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family couples counseling, children counseling and teenage counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Check out Krystal's other blogs: Be Your Best blog, Baby Poems blog and Words of Inspiration blog!


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Give Thanks at All Times - Good & Bad

It is really easy to be thankful when things are going well.  But how do we stay thankful when they are not?   It may be difficult, but practicing gratitude at all times is one of the best ways to make it through setbacks and disappointments.  It keeps us hopeful and reminds us that we made it through hard times before.  It helps us to see that life is still good. Circumstances may be negative, but they can change.  People may hurt us, but we can heal.  Losses may never be recovered, but we can gain something new.  The more we practice gratitude for what is good, right, beautiful and hopeful, the more real it becomes to us.  So whether we are going through some bad times or the best of times, it is always appropriate and empowering to be thankful.

Following is a poem that helps remind us why we can be thankful at all times.   

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful in the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful when you have limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful during the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful in the midst of your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

~ Author unknown. 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. ~Rabbi Harold Kushner

A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining soul complains even if he lives in paradise. ~Baha’u’llah

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ~Epictetus


Find the good and praise it. ~Alex Haley


Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. ~Hausa of Nigeria


If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. ~Gerald Good


Copyright © 2010 Krystal Kuehn, New Day Counseling. All Rights Reserved.


Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family couples counseling, children therapy and teenage counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Check out Krystal's other blogs: Be Your Best blog, Baby Poems blog and Words of Inspiration blog!



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Give Thanks for Simple Acts of Kindness

I am thankful... for simple acts of kindness

Did you ever go shopping and get a survey request with your receipt?  Most people don't take the time to give their input unless it's especially positive or negative.  Well, I had one of those especially positive experiences yesterday.  I was shopping for some kitchenware and was so impressed and thankful with the help I received from one of the employees.  He went over and above to be helpful and even gave me some good tips.  Did you know that you can take off those stickers glued on your purchases that won't peel off by simply using a blow dryer.  I never knew this.  I thought goo gone was my most viable option.  Anyways, this employee gave me that tip and it worked.  When I peeled the stickers off so effortlessly, I couldn't help but think of Ivan.  I was thankful for people like him.  Then I thought about how the simplest little things can leave an impression on us and improve our lives in some way.  I also thought about Ivan's kindness and warmth that was not only evident in his service, but also in his loving and joyful personality.

Simple acts of kindness keep people in our hearts and memories.  It's almost like they keep us connected to them in a loving and positive way.  Did you ever come across someone whom you have long forgotten and they tell you they still remember the words you said to them long ago that really helped them, or the gift you gave that they really appreciated, or what you did for them that was so helpful?  I don't think we even know how much we touch other people's lives and bless them.  Simply being kind, helpful, loving, encouraging, and thankful has lasting impact!  I am so thankful for beautiful people who come across my path.  I am thankful that I can be the recipient of other people's kindness and love.  I am thankful that every day I have the opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to others and bless their day.  I am thankful that I can make a difference by the smallest acts of kindness.  I am thankful that kindness and love bring us together and fill us with lasting gratitude and appreciation.

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ~William Arthur Ward



Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. ~ Rabbi Harold Kushner

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. ~Albert Schweitzer


There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~Albert Einstein








Copyright © 2010 Krystal Kuehn, New Day Counseling. All Rights Reserved.


Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family couples counseling, children therapy and teen counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Check out Krystal's other blogs: Be Your Best blog, Baby Poems blog and Words of Inspiration blog!

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Give Thanks for Autumn

I am thankful... for autumn

Autumn is a beautiful season.  As much as I enjoyed riding my bike through trails all summer long, I found nothing quite as beautiful as going through the same trails during autumn.  Seeing the leaves change colors, breathing the fresh cool air, and hearing the crunch and rustle of leaves beneath my feet with every step I took was truly invigorating.  Autumn is like no other season in its magnificent beauty, its mosaic of tone, color, rhythym and harmony. It is a truly magical and musical experience!  I am thankful for autumn.  I am thankful that it offers so much for me to appreciate and enjoy.  I am thankful that it is a time to reflect, keep warm and remember that life is full of riches, wonder, and spendor!


There is music in the meadows, in the air --
Autumn is here;
Skies are gray, but hearts are mellow,
Leaves are crimson, brown, and yellow;
Pines are soughing, birches stir,
And the Gipsy trail is fresh beneath the fir.
There is rhythm in the woods, and in the fields,
Nature yields:
And the harvest voices crying,
Blend with Autumn zephyrs sighing;
Tone and color, frost and fire,
Wings the nocturne Nature plays upon her lyre.
~ William Stanley Braithwaite, Lyric of Autumn


When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year.
~ Carol L. Riser, Autumn

I am rich today with autumn's gold,
All that my covetous hands can hold;
Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod,
A goldfinch on a milkweed pod,
Huge golden pumpkins in the field
With heaps of corn from a bounteous yield,
Golden apples heavy on the trees
Rivaling those of Hesperides,
Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread
Over all like butter on warm bread;
And the harvest moon will this night unfold
The streams running full of molten gold.
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!
~ Gladys Harp

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz

Autumn asks that we prepare for the future —that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness. ~Bonaro W. Overstreet

Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils. ~Cyril Connolly




Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher & musician. She is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a family couples counseling, children counseling and teen counseling center, BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning, self-help and inspirational site where you can find hundreds of free resources, insights & words of inspiration to change your life, and Baby-Poems.com where you can find beautiful baby poems, baby quotes, cute sayings & baby videos that will touch your heart & increase your joy & gratitude for the children you love & enjoy! Check out Krystal's other blogs: Be Your Best, Baby Poems blog and Words of Inspiration blog!



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