Want to feel better? Count your blessings. Literally.

I had the most interesting experience today. Like all of us, except maybe Wall Streeters, I’m dealing with a variety of stressors. It’s holiday season, my schedule is full of activities and commitments, some clients need my help and others don’t want it, and family obligations are coming into play. Sound familiar?

Instead of focusing on the stressors today, I chose to sit down for five minutes. In that five minutes, I was determined to find ten things for which I am grateful and to think about only those ten things. You can call it meditation, prayer, navel-gazing, whatever, but that’s what I did.

It felt strange at first to think so concretely about gratitude. My thoughts began with being grateful for concrete stuff, like the doctor figuring out what’s wrong with my foot and my dog not chewing up the newest bath mat. I’m a very small thinker.

When I had thought of four things, I had to push a little, mentally. I came up with another two, slightly loftier, things to be grateful for. And that’s when the strangest thing happened. By the time I reached six things, the floodgates opened. My mind was filled with rapid-fire thoughts, all of them about gratitude. As I allowed these thoughts to pass through my mind, I felt my energy rise and my attitude improve. Quite literally, I had to force myself to stop thinking grateful thoughts so I wouldn’t be late for a meeting.

I speak about gratitude quite often as part of a presentation I do on P.A.C.T., which is a set of communication tools and behaviors I developed (you can read the related articles entitled Firing on All Cylinders here). But I have never experienced the power of gratitude thinking quite as physically as I did today.

It would be useful for all of us to take five minutes at work to sit down and count what we’re grateful for in our careers. If you can’t commit to ten things, try to think of five. You might be surprised to find there are more than that if you leave your mind open to the possibility.

One thing is sure: this mental exercise will make you feel better than a visit to the candy machine or coffee shop. My bet is your higher energy and more open mind will be positively reflected in your behaviors and attitudes. That’s a good thing for you, your co-workers, and your customers.