Uncategorized – Page 3 – Appreciation Magic

Aw, Fridays!

dreamstimefree_15930328 — Green Calendar Courtesy of Dreamstime

You know that feeling at the end of a work week, in anticipation of a weekend of relaxation and fun? It’s that feeling many of us who work a Monday through Friday routine get on Fridays. The “Thank God It’s Friday!” comments we hear and speak conjure up feelings of relief that the work week is coming to an end, with an eager anticipation of what’s to come over the next two days. While I’m a huge fan of appreciating EVERY day of the week, I’ve dedicated today’s post to an appreciation of Fridays.

I love the feeling of Fridays – There’s often a more “casual” feel to Fridays, and people seem to be more relaxed. In some work spaces, employees actually dress more casually, too. You hear people talking about their plans for the weekend and it often means less meetings at work for me. There’s a lot of excitement in the feeling of Fridays, and often, at the end of the day, people rush out the door to go out for a drink, shopping, meet up with friends or family, take off on that weekend trip, or just to go home and relax. It feels different than the end of a weekday where you have to return to work the next day, because Fridays feel more like “mini-vacations” with two full days (and 3 nights) to play!

I love the feeling of Fridays because they feel “freeing” – where we can anticipate the weekend with eagerness as we go through our day. While we all have the power to appreciate ANY day like Fridays, many of us do not. (How many of you feel the same about Mondays as you do about Fridays?) Yet we would be so better off if we could master that feeling everyday of the week. After all, who doesn’t want to feel free, relaxed and excited for what’s to come? That’s the key to happiness, my friends!

So I heard Joel Osteen has a new book out called “Everyday is Friday.” While I haven’t read it yet, I’m imagining that he might be sending a similar message that we have the ability to make anyday like Fridays with our attitudes and faith. When I think about it, when I regularly practice appreciation on the other days of the week, Fridays don’t really feel so special because everyday is wonderful! After all, I’m alive! I can appreciate that on Fridays as easily as Mondays or Thursdays. But I admit there is something extra special about that Friday “feeling” and finding it on other days may be the key to loving your life more fully. So make the choice that everyday is freeing, fun, relaxed and joyful and your life will dramatically improve!

Aw, Fridays! Can you feel it?

“Meow” – In Appreciation of Cats and Kitties

“Meow.” What’s that? I said, “I’m a cat lover!” How about you? I’m also a dog lover (but I’ll save elaborating on that for another post). I grew up with cats and had both dogs and cats in some of my adult life. At this moment in time, I have neither a cat nor a dog, but I have been thinking about getting a pet again for over a year now. With my busy travel schedule, I haven’t felt that the time was right or that I could give my pet the care that she or he deserves. (I also need to check with my landlords that it’s ok!)

Since I’ve been thinking so much about cats, they’ve been hanging out near my place a lot this past year. There’s been several, but I particularly have seen this black cat with white spots a lot. On one of the recent days when I was home sick, as I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I caught something moving out of the corner of my left eye. So I went to the window and much to my surprise, I saw the cat whose been hanging out around my home, her partner and adorable little kitties! So I pulled out my iPod and recorded a bit through my very dirty window.

I think we can all agree to look past the dirty window and marvel at the playfulness of little kitties! I’ve since cleaned the window up so I can get better views of what they’re doing. It’s clear they’ve made my back yard their home and I’m having fun enjoying all these cats while I can. It was especially enjoyable when I was home sick as they brought a big smile to my face and joy to my heart.

So if you like cats, (or even if you don’t), you’ve got to admit they are cute to watch, don’t you think? EnJOY!

And please excuse that dirty window – “Meow!”

Appreciating Photography

There are so many great photographers and photos out there on the internet and I totally appreciate that. I would love to be a better photographer myself and to spend more time doing it. Even if I’m not a professional or even an amateur professsional, I’ve always loved to take pictures. I love my digital camera but haven’t had much time to really play with it. I also really love my old faithful, manual Pentax that I first learned on way back when.

Today’s photography certainly has expanded our world in infinite ways. The internet has certainly given a forum to photographers everywhere to showcase their work, while providing an art form for us to appreciate. And photo editing sites make “playing” with a photograph fun, too! So today I’m appreciating photography, the photographers and the internet sites where I can spend time admiring beautiful works of art.

balboa_2_bg_052603 — Photo courtesy of http://www.phphoto.org

I am particularly grateful for people who freely share their work, too, and would like to take this space to formally thank the owner at http://www.pdphoto.org for so selflessly making thousands of photos free for people to use in the public domain. While I use a lot of my own photography in my blogging, on my website and in my email newsletter, I have also used this site over the years when I don’t have a photo handy. So thanks to this website and its creator! I really appreciate you!

In honor of my appreciation for the site, I’ll just showcase a photo from there so you can all appreciate it, too.

Appreciating Bambi

I’m in Iowa City/Coralville for the Labor Day weekend and already I’ve had a close encounter with “Bambi.” Of course, it’s not the Disney “Bambi” movie, but with a deer that was grazing in my daughter’s yard in town. Deer around here are fairly plentiful. As I pulled into the driveway, Bambi was actually a lot closer and we had a “stare down” for about a minute or so, before I could get my phone camera out to take a photo. I even was able to drive the car up a bit, roll down my window, and stick my phone out the window without Bambi moving an inch! Then, right before I took the photo, Bambi got a bit shy and moved a bit further away (which is the image I’m posting).

I love how we can share spaces with animals in the “wild” and get along! I’m appreciating their beauty, even though I know there are many who find them a nuisance. I just find deer to be very beautiful creatures and this one is obviously very accustomed to being around people. So today I am appreciating the beauty of deer!

Appreciating Garbage Workers

The other day on my way to work, I got behind a garbage truck on a hill. It reminded me how much I personally wouldn’t like that job: heavy lifting, smelly cans and bags of garbage, and little recognition for a job well done. In thinking about how hard that job seemed to me, I realized how much I appreciate the people who do this for a living. I watched in awe as they jumped off and on that truck, hurling garbage bin after bin onto the truck, all quickly and efficiently as they took away our “stuff” that we don’t want, leaving us with empty bins that we continue to fill again and again. And I smiled when the driver of the truck was able to move the heavy rig over, waving me on, so I could pass them to get onto my day job. I was reminded of the many times I’ve had that happen here, and how much I appreciate the kindness in that.

I’m so happy that there are people who do this work! Imagine our lives without them! What a mess we would have! So today, I’m appreciating garbage workers! I really appreciate their reliability several times a week in showing up for their jobs, in how they efficiently handle a job that I personally would never want to do, and how they help to haul away junk we no longer want and recycle materials that can be made into other stuff (that we probably eventually will no longer want!), so we put it in the garbage bin to be taken away again! Thank you, garbage workers! Life is so much easier with you in it!

My Personal Energy Mandala

I just had my personal energy mandala done by Keith at Quantum Fractal Mandala Energy , as a gift from Jeannette Maw at Good Vibe University for winning a treasure hunt there. Well, let me say that my energy mandala is quite a treasure in itself! It’s beautiful! What a wonderful work of art and it’s exciting to feel and see the energy! I’m so appreciative! Thank you!

Appreciating Amidst The Devastation in Japan

While it seems the entire world is focused on the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan and its destruction, this is the perfect time to ask ourselves what might there be to appreciate about this situation. My dear friend, Jeannette Maw, over at Good Vibe Blog, asked her readers to list the positive from this situation so we can all help Japan. I made a somewhat long post there on her blog, but then I thought, “Why not come here on this blog all about appreciation and make it here, too?” After all, the more we can shift our focus to find appreciation and love, the better off Japan and the entire world will be. Feel free to add your own.

So here is what I said:

I am so glad for this post, Jeannette, and the opportunity to look at it from a place of appreciation through all of this contrast.

I have much love for Japan and its people. My experience there as a Fulbrighter almost 2 years ago was one of the memorable experiences of my life, for which I truly appreciate. The kindness of the people, their culture and the beauty of the nation cannot be overstated and the experience all left a lasting imprint of love into my heart.

I began sending them an energy of love right away. I’ve wrapped them in a blanket of love, safety and healing for those that are hurting.

I have found much to appreciate in this situation of such deep contrast. Through my day job, I have many connections to other countries, universities and people around the world, including Japan. I also have a colleague from Japan who works with me, so I was very happy to learn that her family is ok. She feels relieved, which makes her happy and I love seeing and feeling happy for her happiness, too.

I appreciated and felt a relief in hearing from one of our Japanese partners that they are all safe and staying in their offices in Tokyo. He even made a joke in his email, which was so refreshing and I thought how much I appreciate him for his humor, and for his ability to express it in this time.

And here’s to all those people who have jobs in Tokyo, which gives them a place to stay right now!

I am so happy to here that our exchange student over there is ok and has written us back, too. I am happy that most of our students here from Japan have reported that their family and friends are ok, too and I’m intending that they will all communicate with everyone soon.

I’m reminded that those who have “died” have just transitioned. That is comforting.

I love how I can go on Facebook and hear from all of our Japanese alumni living there and know that they are safe and still here. Facebook and the Google technology that allows people to search for missing loved ones is a relief for not only me, but for many searching for their family and friends. Isn’t technology wonderful, and especially in times like these?

Speaking of technology, the biggest appreciation I’ve been feeling lately is for the Japanese engineering and technology in their construction of buildings in Tokyo. Without that high tech ability, many buildings would have fallen and many more people would not now have a place to “live,” and the devastation would have been much worse.

I am appreciative that the Japanese are so organized in their training and orientation to their citizens that people do know what to do in times of earthquakes and disasters like these. I appreciate their advanced warning system they have on their TVs. They are an example to the rest of the world of how we can build our buildings for the general well-being of everyone.

I know that the Japanese custom of neighborhood groups that look out for each other, plus the general culture of group culture will be a very uniting, comforting and re-building force in the months ahead.

I see the images and remember my fond times there: a time I truly appreciate and will always love.

((((((((((((((((((((((((BIG HUG OF LOVE TO JAPAN)))))))))))))))))))))

Warmly,
Barbara

Appreciation

Today is my final day of blogging everyday for the month of November and I’ve done it on two blogs! I did it as part of the National Blogging Month (NaBloPoMo). When I first started out with this personal challenge for myself, it came after months of inactivity blogging. While my main blog, Journey of A Spirited Strider, has been quite active since I started it in 2007, I hadn’t written on it or anywhere since mid-July of this year. My mother died this summer and I just didn’t have the motivation to write. But after an inspiration from Nancy Barry-Jansson, and after seeing the NaBloPoMo challenge (which I had attempted to do some years ago), it gave me the incentive to get back here to write.

Since I am a huge fan of appreciation everyday anyway, I figured it wouldn’t be that difficult to find topics. And it wasn’t. When we appreciate, we attract more in which to appreciate! In other words, a daily practice of appreciation creates opportunities to look at our everyday world in a new light. We automatically see the positive, rather than the negative in a situation, we set the tone for “having a great day” everyday and we are generally happier. It’s a great habit to get into.

So while I won’t be posting everyday from now on, I suspect I’ll be coming back here a bit more often as I’m reminded of how powerful it is to write down one’s appreciations.

GoodVibeUniversity

I’ve got one day left of the National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), where we blog everyday for the month of November! It wouldn’t be complete here without sending my appreciation to my friends at GoodVibeUniversity (GVU for short). I so appreciate this site and all of the people who are there. I love how just by signing in, I’m able to get uplifted in a second by all of the positive energy! It’s THE place to learn from top notch law of attraction coaches, and especially from GVU’s creator, also known as Good Vibe Coach, Jeannette Maw! She gives so generously of her time and talents and I appreciate her very much! I appreciate everyone, especially those who consistently take the time to comment on posts and to give very inspiring insights, time after time. I love the Treasure Hunt fun and the rampages of appreciation, the Outsourcerers who are so very powerful and all of the special calls that are hosted and the recordings that are available (as I usually cannot make them ‘live’).

It would be impossible for me to recall all of the people there that I appreciate now, so I’m giving everyone there a BIG HUG and a “shout out” in appreciation today because I love you all! Thank you for your insights, your friendship and for what’s to come!

Camera Phones

I am so grateful for the technology of camera phones! I love photography and love to capture moments wherever I go. But before camera phones became so handy (and before cell phones in general were so common), I’d have to carry around a camera in order to capture photos of things, people and nature around me. While I do have a pretty good camera, I’m finding that these days, I spend more time taking photos with my Blackberry camera! It takes nice photos and is easy to carry along.