“I am confronted byinsurmountable opportunity.”

Pogo Possum

TEST SLIDEfor sharply focusing projector

and adjusting the lighting of the roomfor optimal viewing.

A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES

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A World ofPossibilities

Almostanything

is possible—if you believe it.

A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES

Skills for Creating Happinessand Blessing Others

A World of Possibilities

1. Your Vision Map2. Making the Growth Choice3. The Way of Peace4. Heart Intelligence5. The Freedom of Self-Discipline

A World of Possibilities

6. Embracing This Present Moment 7. Accepting and Loving Your Body 8. Healthy Relationships 9. Unleashing Your Creativity10. Gifts of Gratitude and Blessing

Module # 10 of 10

Gifts ofGratitude and

Blessing

Group Activity

Do you believe in thepower of positive thinking

and/or the power of prayer?If so, why?

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTION:

“As we focus onwhat we are thankfulfor, fear, anger, and bitterness melt away,

seemingly without effort.” 

M. J. Ryan

The Target of Lifeis a very helpful way to understand our individual and collective well-being.

When you’re centered in the heart of the Target of Life, you’re at your best and life seems brighter. You see clearly and therefore make optimal decisions.You feel peaceful, loving, energetic, and happy. You’re in a good position to handle just about anything. However, when things happen that go against our desires and expectations, it’s easy to get pulled off center.

We experience more fear and negativity. We say and do things we regret.The immune system weakens and our productivity declines.We lose touch with what’s really important to us. Unhealthy stress increases and our sensitivity toward others decreases. And the further away from the center we move, the worse it gets!

That’s why it’s so important to catch early signs of stress, and to use all of our creativity to stay as centered as possible.

When we are centered in the heart of the Target of Life, difficulties still crop up, but we can handle them much more smoothly and effectively.

The more centered we are, the greater our well-being, the wiser our choices, and the more effective we are in everything we do.

Group Activity

Let’s say a person develops a strong attitude of gratitudeand begins to reach out to

bless others. How might this change his or her life?

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTION:

Almost any individual,relationship, family, organization, community, or nation can benefit

from the skillful application of gratitude and blessing.

Gratitude,the skill of feeling and

expressing appreciation, can be beneficially practiced

on three levels ofincreasing difficulty:

1. For what is unexpected and wonderful. 2. For the positives in life that we often

take for granted.3. For the various challenges that test our

resolve and creativity and that often contain hidden blessings.

As with gratitude, blessing—the act of giving something positive to

another— can be practiced effectively in thought, word,

and overt action.

Mounting research has documented the substantial

power of both prayer and intentionally directed thought.

With gratitude and blessing, both the

giver and receiver reap important and

substantial benefits.

The applications of gratitude and blessing are virtually unlimited, can be

used by anyone, require no waiting periods or large capital investments,

transcend ideological differences, and are wonderfully contagious.

Group Activity

Can you givea personal example of how you have been touched by gratitude

or blessings coming from others?

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTION:

Having a thankful heartand reaching out

in blessing to othersare hardly new concepts.

That’s part of their beauty:

They are easily understood, widely

recognized as valuable, and are used by diverse groups of people. But we

have only begun to tap the potential of these amazing tools. The possibilities and

benefits are immense!

Counselors, philosophers, and all major religions encourage expressing

gratitude and blessing others, and researchers have discovered that

these practices are associated with an impressive array of positive outcomes

both for givers and receivers.

Even when carried out solely on the level of thought, as in silent prayer for another, significant positive changes in

health and overall well-being have been documented.

Researchers also have found that positive thoughts produce benefits even when directed toward animals, plants,

fungi, bacteria, and blood cells.To the imaginative mind, the potential

of these findings is staggering!

Gratitude and blessing seemtailor-made for our time-pressured, stressed-out society. Often requiring

little or no extra time, they can do wonders for reducing the burden of

stress that wears heavily on our physical well-being and diminishes our

creativity, spiritual attunement, and joy.

Researchers have discovered that whenan individual engages in thoughts of

appreciation, almost immediately his or her heart rate variability smooths out,

indicating heightened psychophysiological coherence—a state associated with reduced stress, increased emotional

stability, high performance, anda range of health benefits.

Gratitude produces immediate benefits!

More than 100 controlled laboratory research studies show, in general,

that prayer or concentrated thoughts of compassion, kindness, and love

frequently result in healthful changes in a variety of living things, from humans to plants to bacteria.

Group Activity

How might our world change if more people started making

greater use of the gifts of gratitude and blessing?

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTION:

BEWAREOF THE OPPOSITES OF

GRATITUDE AND BLESSING!

While gratitude and blessingcarry enormous positive power, their

opposites—self-defeating negative thinking and complaining, and unkind thoughts and actions directed toward

others—have great power to harmand should be strictly avoided.

Leading-edge research suggests that we live in a

common “field of energy,” so that what we do to others, for better or worse, we are, in a

very real sense, doing to ourselves.

If this is true,then anything less

than showing compassion,

understanding, and lovefor one another is like

self-inflicted punishment—something, of course, that we want to avoid.

We’ve only begun tapping into the many ways in which we can more powerfully and

creatively employ gratitude and blessing.

Think about what you have been learning, and then pick out one small goal

you want to accomplish in the next few days. Choose a new possibility that’s

important to you. Write your action plan now, briefly stating exactly what you

will do and by when.

A New Possibility

“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 thatnurtures the soul.”

 Harold Kushner

I send out thoughts of goodwill and love to all those who come into my heart and my thoughts.

It takes very little time and,in so doing, I, too, am blessed.

POSITIVE SELF-TALK

Remember, the more centered you are on the Target of Life, the more

accepting and loving you will be, and the easier it will be for you to feel

gratitude and to bless others.

Together, let’s envisionand build a world whereall people enjoy optimal

well-being. Let’s strive to awakenfresh thinking, new enthusiasm, and abundant love. Let’s create a world

of undreamed-of possibilities. It can be done!

Almostanything

is possible—if you believe it.

A World ofPossibilities

Thank You!