July 10, 2020 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time.

Appreciation And Gratitude Are Key To Your Happiness

Appreciation and gratitude are unquestionably two of the most valuable human experiences one may ever encounter.

One of my best friends got me in the habit of waking up in the morning and allowing a few minutes at the top of every day for nothing but gratitude. The act was so simple that it escaped me at the outset. But I gave it a shot.

What I discovered in the process was the comparative nature of the brain. Whatever seemed to be causing me stress and frustration was negligible in the face of a viable comparison. That was the secret.

You might feel incredibly overwhelmed, variables coming at you in all directions, everything seeming larger than life. But somehow, when one takes a step back, one discovers that comparatively things are nowhere near as problematic as they might be. In that moment of realization, everything crystallizes and one is able to see their own troubles in perhaps a different perspective.

We are all feeling the stress and the emotional exasperation of weathering this health crisis which is stemming into a massive financial crisis. But someone else is desperately trying to get liquid out of their lungs and hoping to someday see their family members again. If we watch the news and we see the rising death toll, it is a number. It is a fear factor. But it doesn’t really strike home how close that could really come to being ourselves.

So at the top of each day, I do take inventory of all of the things that bring me joy, all of the people who I love, and all of the blessings that surround me and recognize that despite everything that is making me feel ill at ease or frustrated or disappointed or anxious, it pales in comparison to being told I will need a ventilator to breathe.

Life in perspective is really the only way to go❤️

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!