The Magic (10 page)

If you’re at home today, then sit down with a pen and journal or on your computer, and go back in your mind recalling instances where people in service went out of their way for you. It may have been someone on the phone, or it may have been a tradesperson who was determined to resolve a problem for you. Maybe you’ve received great service from your mail person, the trash collectors or recycling companies, or local store assistants. Make a written list of ten instances where people in service helped you, and send magic dust by saying
thank you
to every one of them.

Magic Reminder

Read through tomorrow’s practice today, because the practice for Day 11 begins when you first wake up.

Magic Practice Number 10

Magic Dust Everyone

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write
   why
   you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say
   thank you, thank you, thank you,
   and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
   
2. Today, sprinkle magic dust on
   ten
   people who perform services you benefit from, by thanking them directly or otherwise by mentally acknowledging and thanking them. Feel grateful to them for the service they perform!
   
3. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words,
   thank you,
   for the
   best
   thing that happened during the day.
   
4. Read through tomorrow’s practice today, because the practice for Day 11 begins when you first wake up.
   

Day 11

A Magic Morning

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Marcus Aurelius (121–180)
ROMAN EMPEROR

The easiest and simplest way to ensure that your day ahead will be filled with
magic
is to fill your
morning
with gratitude. When you incorporate gratitude into your morning routine, you will feel and see its magical benefits throughout the whole day.

Each morning is full of opportunities to give thanks, and it doesn’t slow you down or take any extra time, because you can do it naturally as you go about everything you do. There is an added bonus to filling your morning with gratitude because your daily routines are the times when you can harm yourself the most by thinking negative thoughts without realizing you’re doing it. There’s no room for harmful negative thoughts when your mind is focused on looking for things to be grateful for. After this practice you will go into your day feeling much happier and more confident that the day ahead will be great – and that’s when you will see the magic happen before your very eyes!

When you wake up to the new day today, before you move, before you do a single thing, say the magic words,
thank you.
Say
thank you
for the fact that you are alive, and that you’ve been given another day of life. Your life is a gift, every day is a gift, and when you really think about it, it’s inconceivable that any of us would wake up in the morning without giving thanks for another day. If you think a new day isn’t such a big deal, then just try missing one! It doesn’t matter how sleepy you are, or if your alarm has woken you up for work, or you’ve slept in during the weekend; the moment you wake, say the magic words,
thank you
, for another day of your life.

Say
thank you
for the good night’s sleep you received. Are you fortunate enough to have slept in a bed, with sheets and a pillow?
Thank you!
As your feet hit the ground say
thank you.
Do you have a bathroom?
Thank you!
Are you able to turn on the taps and immediately receive fresh, clean water every morning?
Thank you!
Imagine all the people who dug the trenches and laid the pipes across your country, throughout your city, and along all the streets to your home so you can turn a tap and receive beautiful, clean, hot water.
Thank you!
As you reach for your toothbrush and toothpaste,
thank you!
Without them, your day would not begin so pleasantly.
Thank you
for the towels, the soap, the mirror, and everything in the bathroom you use that makes you feel fresh, awake, and ready for the day.

As you get dressed, think about how fortunate you are to have clothes to choose from and wear.
Thank you!
Think about how many people must have been involved in making all the various items of clothing you put on and wear in one day. It’s likely that the clothes you put on in one day come from many countries across the planet.
Thank you to everybody!
Do you have shoes? Lucky you! Imagine life without them.
Thank you for shoes!

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”

J. B. Priestley (1894–1984)
WRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT

Make today as good as it can be by practicing concentrated gratitude and putting the magic into your morning routine. From the moment you open your eyes until you have put your shoes on or finished getting ready, say the magic words,
thank you,
in your mind for everything you touch and use. It doesn’t matter if you don’t shower or get dressed first thing in the morning, you can still use this Magic Morning practice as a guide and apply it to whatever your morning routine is. If you wake up and eat breakfast first, then as you touch and use each thing for your breakfast say the magic words,
thank you.
Give thanks for your morning coffee, tea, fruit juice, or breakfast. They make your mornings so enjoyable and give you energy for the day. Be grateful for the kitchen appliances you use for your breakfast – the refrigerator, hot plates, oven, toaster, coffee maker, or kettle.

Every day without exception, I say “thank” as I put one foot on the floor, and “you” as my other foot touches the floor, so that as both feet touch the floor for the first time each day, I’ve said
thank you.
As I walk toward my bathroom I say the magic words,
thank you,
in my mind with each step. Then I continue saying
thank you
in my mind as I touch and use each thing in my bathroom. By the time I am dressed and ready for the day, I feel so happy I could jump for joy. And when I feel that happy, I know my gratitude has worked, and I am guaranteed to have a magical day. As I go through my day, I really feel as though I have a magic power with me, because one good thing after another happens. And as each good thing happens, I’m even more grateful, which speeds up the magic with even more good things happening. You know those days when everything just seems to go right for you? Well, that’s what it’s like after doing Magic Morning, but multiplied!

Magic Practice Number 11

A Magic Morning

1. When you wake up to the new day, before you do a single thing, say the magic words,
   thank you.
   
2. From the moment you open your eyes until you’ve finished getting ready, say the magic words,
   thank you,
   in your mind for everything you touch and use.
   
3. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of ten blessings. Write
   why
   you’re grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say
   thank you, thank you, thank you,
   and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
   
4. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words,
   thank you,
   for the
   best
   thing that happened during the day.
   

Day 12

Magical People Who Made a Difference

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each one of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE–WINNING
MEDICAL MISSIONARY AND PHILOSOPHER

Every one of us has received help, support, or guidance from other people at particular times in our life when we needed it most. Sometimes another person alters the course of our life through their encouragement, guidance, or just being there at the right time. And then life goes on, and we tend to forget those times when one person touched us or changed our life. Sometimes you don’t even realize the impact a person had until well into the future, when you look back on your life and realize that a particular person was pivotal in magically changing the direction of your life for the better.

The person may have been a teacher or coach, an uncle, aunt, sibling, grandparent, or any family member. They may have been a doctor, nurse, or best friend. They may have been the person who introduced you to your current partner or to a particular interest that became one of your greatest passions. Maybe they were someone you didn’t even know, and they appeared in your life very briefly, performing a random act of kindness that touched you to the core.

My grandmother gave me my love for books, cooking, and the countryside. By sharing her love of those things with me, all of them affected and changed the course of my life. Cooking became a passion of mine for over twenty years, my love of books eventually led to me becoming a writer, and my love of the countryside has influenced where I’ve lived throughout my life.

My grandmother also disciplined me with a steel hand to say
thank you
. At the time I thought she was just teaching me to be polite. It was only later in my life I realized that teaching me to say the magic words was the greatest gift my grandmother ever gave me. She is not alive anymore, but I continue to be grateful to her for the huge influence she had on the course of my life.
Thank you, Grandma!

Today, you are going to think about the magical people who have impacted your life. Find a quiet place alone sometime during the day today, sit down, and think of three extraordinary people who have made a difference in your life. Once you have your three people, work with one person at a time, and talk out loud to each person as though they were present, telling him or her the reasons
why
you’re grateful to them, and how they affected the course of your life.

Make sure you do this magical practice with all three people in the one session, because it will take your feeling of gratitude to a far deeper level. If you split up this magical practice throughout the day, you will not feel the same depth of gratitude, nor receive the magical results.

Here’s an example of what you might say:

Sarah, I want to thank you for the time that you encouraged me to follow my heart. I was lost and confused that day, and your words touched me, and lifted me out of despair. Because of what you said, I found the courage to follow my dream, and I moved to France to work as an apprentice chef. I am living my dream, and I couldn’t be happier. All because of what you said to me that day. Thank you, Sarah!

It’s very important that you say the reasons why you’re grateful. And you can’t say too much. Instead, the more you say, and the more you feel, the more amazing the results. You will see the magic explode into your life from doing this practice; it numbers among the most powerful acts of gratitude you can ever perform.

If you’re not in a position to talk out loud, then you can write down your words to each person, and address them as though you’re writing a letter.

When you have completed this practice, you will feel a huge difference in the way that you feel. The evidence of gratitude’s power working is always that first and foremost it makes you
happy!
The secondary evidence of gratitude’s power is that you attract wonderful things. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the happiness you feel after practicing gratitude also attracts more wonderful things, which will make you even happier. That’s the magic of life, and that’s the magical power of gratitude!