Maria didn't set out to teach me a lesson, rather, it began with an inquiry. I was curious about the fact that Maria was happy, I mean really happy, every time I saw her. You see, Maria was my housekeeper and each week when she cared for my house and family we would sit down and enjoy lunch together. I treasured these times with Maria; she was such a joy to be with. One day, I couldn't stop myself from asking Maria why she was so happy. I thought it was odd for someone to appear to be so happy all of the time. I asked, "Maria, you are always so happy. What makes you so happy?" She replied, " You want to know what makes me happy? I have a beautiful family. A great husband and a daughter who I love with all of my heart." I thought to myself, "Well, I have those things too. There must be more." and asked, "What else Maria?" "I love my job," she responded. Now, this one raised an eyebrow. I found it hard to grasp the idea of why she loved her job as a housekeeper, so I inquired further. "Maria, what do you love most about your job?" Her response floored me, "You want to know what makes me happy about my job? When I come to work each day I look around and I see messes everywhere. Then, I work hard all day long and before I leave at the end of the day, I look back into the house and I say to myself: Maria look at how beautiful the house is now. You did good work today!" Maria celebrates herself every single day! That was the secret to her happiness!

Like Maria, I was grateful for my blessings but unlike her, I was not fully conscious of what made me happy and I definitely didn't celebrate my accomplishments. I realized during that brief lunch break that I tended to focus my thoughts on all of the stress, struggle and things that were undone in my life rather than celebrating myself and all that I had accomplished. I needed to switch my thoughts from negative thoughts to positive thoughts. I already had a night time practice of expressing gratitude for the blessings in my life and the practice helped me to shift my mindset from being focused on scarcity (that which was lacking in my life) to being focused on abundance (all of the blessings in my life) so it was natural for me to enhance my night time practice of journaling to include this new insight and make it a ritual. I offer it to you as a free gift; an expression of my gratitude for our relationship. Download your free copy of Marge's Night Time Ritual here.

Take the time to celebrate yourself everyday!

By Marge Piccini

Be Brilliant!. ... in Business and in Life!

Marge Piccini is a success coach whose specialty is helping people to live the life they crave.

She is co-author of Incredible Business: Expert Advice to Accelerate Your Success which features Profit More and Prospect Less, a sales leadership program she created and implemented with remarkable results. Marge is a dream coach® and a life purpose coach, and has completed extensive training with Marcia Wieder, the personal coach to Jack Canfield author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

As a former award winning sales professional representing a Fortune 100, Marge learned that the key to success is authenticity--knowing who you are and the unique value that you deliver, being connected to your passion and purpose and carrying out your dreams and visions for your business and your life.

Her seminars, workshops, and coaching programs train participants to connect with their own internal resources for exploration, guidance and power so they can create and live the life they crave.

Contact Marge at (860)982.5150 or Marge@MargePiccini.com View Marge's Linked In Profile Her Website www.margepiccini.com

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