"When you begin to focus on others and express appreciation for them, you are also more likely to find yourself in a reciprocal flow of positive energy with other people. This rule about appreciation has two stages. The first is to become conscious of something in your life that you value and appreciate. Secondly, by expressing it to others, you acknowledge not only that there is something admirable in them, but also that you are appreciative of it and them.

"Just about any appreciation will do to get the flow of good feeling going. As you are walking down the street with a friend, you might notice the sunlight glinting on the fresh dew. In that moment, open your mouth and say, 'Right now, I am appreciating the sunlight glinting on the dew.' A simple noticing like this is often all it takes to put you in the flow of appreciation.

"As you go through your day, notice what you notice. Then bring your appreciation of what you are seeing into your consciousness, and become aware not only of what you are appreciating, but of the feeling that surrounds the appreciation as well. And then, to complete the process, put your appreciation into words and express your appreciation out loud — to yourself or someone else.

"I usually suggest that you try to speak a ten-second appreciation every hour. One day, in one of our workshops, a very tense and hostile-looking person took the microphone after I had made this suggestion and said sarcastically, 'So we are supposed to go around gushing all over the furniture all the time?' I had to laugh, as did most of the audience, but if a person thinks that saying one ten-second appreciation in an hour qualifies as 'gushing,' then that person has a serious problem. There are 360 ten-second chunks in very hour. All we want to do, at first, is to take one of these 360 ten-second chunks of time, and use it to voice an appreciation.

"Right now, look around yourself and let your eyes rest on something you can appreciate. Then, get out your notebook and fill in the blank below with an appreciation.

Right now I am appreciating ____________.
Keep the flow going with some even deeper appreciations.
One of the biggest appreciations I have about life on Earth is ___________.
I deeply appreciate myself for the way__________.
(Thinking of someone you are intimate with) I deeply appreciate__________ for the way they____________________.

See how many things, qualities, and people you can appreciate. When you have completed your list, go out into the world and begin to become aware of other things you appreciate, and see if you can voice one appreciation an hour for the rest of the day. Then continue this process into the future for as long as it is pleasurable for you. What I think you will find is that the process of voicing appreciations will be one of the best possible means you have discovered to increase the amount of enjoyment you experience in your life."