Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. - Voltaire
I was having a conversation with my good friend Laura - you know, one of those 2 or 3 friends who know everything about you down to the most terrible, fascinating, emotional detail, who know you inside and out and might even, I dare say, know you better than you know yourself - and she was giving me a boost. She was urging me to keep a gratitude journal, one of those impossible journeys where you sit down at the end of each day and jot down 5 things that happened to you during the last 12 hours or so that you are grateful for. Even on the most horrible of days, you have to force yourself to find those moments of joy, of pleasure, of success, of sharing, of discovery that made your day worth living. Trying to turn my attention from the stressful aspects of the hotel, she said “you live in a beautiful place, in a beautiful city, housed for free in a comfortable apartment…and besides, the hotel is part of your brand, of your image! My god, you own and run a hotel in France ooh la la!”
(she really did say “ooh la la!”)