Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Aug/Sept 2016 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 75

7 8 salary has taught us what things we really need, helped us to be more economical with our money, and led us to appreciate a vacation or dinner out more fully than we did when we had a larger income. We all live with one shortage or another at various points in our lives. They teach us to appreciate the little things, for its it’s those little things that truly mean the most. A  ssess the personal strengths you are grateful for: What are you great at doing? What capabilities just come naturally to you? What do others tell you that you’re great at or always come to you for? Each of us have unique strengths, gifts given to us by a higher power. The greatest way to show our gratitude for these gifts is to make sure we express them and give them to others. By doing so, we multiply their positive impact. D  etermine the personal imperfections you are grateful for: As much as we each have strengths, we also have imperfections—the things we struggle with. We can either worry that we are unlovable because of them and attempt to hide these imperfections from others, or we can embrace them as part of the tapestry of our unique beauty. Gratitude for our imperfections removes any shame we may have about them. When we become grateful for our flaws, we learn to love ourselves wholly, authentically, and without need for some unrealistic standard of perfection. It allows us to be honest about ourselves, and in doing so, we help offer others permission to do the same. Sometimes we believe the solution to our shortfalls, deficits, stresses, and anxieties can be found in something consumable, purchasable, or something we can put more hours into attaining. Yet, when we instead refocus our lenses to look at what already lies within us and around us, we see that we already have all we need, a calm flows through us, and our cup runneth over. Read Online! Dr. Colleen Georges - Dr. Colleen Georges is a Positive Psychology coach, Happiness Strategist, TEDx speaker, educator, and author who helps others see all the good within and around them, and use their strengths to live and work more happily. Colleen authors the blog Seeing All the Good, blogs for Huffington Post, and is co-author of seven best-selling self-help books. Learn more: www.LifeCoachingNJ.com. HEALTH & WELLNESS Gratitude for our imperfections removes any shame we may have about them.