gratitude – Appreciation Magic

Appreciating My Life

Today I made my newest video, called “I Appreciate My Life.” While I haven’t been posting here or on any of my blogs regularly, I do practice daily appreciation. Sometimes it can be a challenge, when going through perceived “hard times.” Yet that’s the thing: “hard times” are really a perception and I can change my perception about events and my feelings about them at any given moment. I can’t make anyone or any circumstance the source of my happiness. Happiness is an “inside job.”

Today I just got to “work” and re-affirmed that “inside job” to myself, and this video came out as a result.

I Appreciate These Past 41 Days – Day 41

Today is the last day of my 41-day challenge and I appreciate that! As part of my Facebook group on “41 Days of Appreciating Rampages,” I committed to blogging here for 41 days with photos. I am feeling quite good, now that the 41st day is here.

I started the Facebook group ten months ago and have done several rounds of “41 days.” After a break when I let myself get a bit too busy, I decided 41 days ago to be more deliberate through this blog on the next round of 41 days. I’m so glad I did! While this is not the end of my daily appreciation habit, there’s something about reaching the completion of something that feels really good. So today, I’m appreciating these past 41 days, the new blogs I’ve discovered from people commenting or liking my posts and most of all, the joy that comes from this daily practice of appreciating.

All are invited to join my Facebook group and post your joys as your inspiration leads you. There are some wonderful people in the group! I love them all and find reading their posts very uplifting.

I Appreciate My Body – Day 37

I appreciate my body! It works in so many ways! Let me list some here: my eyes that see, my hair that curls, my lips and tongue that speak, my skin that feels like a baby in some places, my arms that can carry, my hands that can type, write and play instruments, my voice that can sing, talk and laugh, my ears that can hear, my nose that can smell the sweet flowers of summer, my breasts that gave milk during my child-bearing years, my knees that can bend, my elbows that can also bend, my feet that ground me, my toes I can wiggle, my legs that move, climb stairs and get me places, my neurological system, my digestive system, my reproductive system, my low blood pressure, my brain that thinks, my smile, my teeth that help chew food, my curves which make me feel sexy, my fingernails that I can paint, my ankles for their support, and my heart that is the epicenter of my entire being. Thank you, heart, for always working, for feelings and for receiving and giving the energy of love. You are the jewel in the treasure chest of my body! I appreciate my body!

I Appreciate Raindrops – Day 36

I appreciate the close-up beauty of raindrops on the surface of a flower, a leaf, grass or any living plant. The formations are unique and when I look closely I am reminded of that life-giving force that connects us all: water. Raindrops give life to growing things and while rain can sometimes change plans for our outdoor events, I do appreciate rain and the drops that are left behind onto a living plant for their beauty and life-giving qualities.

Appreciating Great Quotes – Day 13

I just love a great quote. There are so many fun and inspiring quotes from all kinds of people and the internet makes it easy to look for them on any subject and it’s a great place to share them (emails, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc.). I often spend time looking at great quotes for my contribution to my day job’s “House Organ Online,” an online communication tool sent to all the office employees. I like to start my posts with an inspirational quote. I find that great quotes inspire people to dream big, create, laugh, ponder and reflect. I love the feeling of a great quote that invokes in me an “I wish I said that” feeling and I especially love quotes that make me chuckle!

I have so many quotes that I just adore but I’ll only list a few of them here for today. I’d love to read some of your favorite quotes, so please feel free to leave yours in the comments.

My happiness depends upon me so you’re off the hook. – Abraham-Hicks

The time is relax is when you don’t have time for it. – Sydney Harris

True friends stab you in the front. – Oscar Wilde

Hitch your wagon to a star. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller

Appreciating Origami – Day 9

I’ve always loved origami, although I’m not such a master of it. I love how a simple piece of paper can be folded and folded and folded to make all kinds of shapes. I love the variety of origami papers to choose from, too!

Last year I had the opportunity to try my hand again at origami during a work event with a visiting Japanese delegation.

The photos represent my creation: easy (as long as I have someone to show me how to do it!), and beautiful.

I Appreciate Gardening – Day 8

Growing up in Iowa, I never had trouble growing anything. The soil is so rich and everywhere it’s like top soil. But here in New York, the soil around me has red tones and I’ve found a whole lot of extra work is required to make things grow. So I’ve experimented with some container gardening and I have to say that I really like it. Whether it’s planted directly in the ground or in a planter, I love the excitement of seeing seed grow into plants, and plants into vegetables, fruits or herbs. This year I’m trying some container strawberries. I can’t wait to taste them! I love checking in frequently and talking to my plants to encourage them to keep growing and I especially love the end result! Yes, I talk to my plants! I love and appreciate gardening for I know how I take care of the plants, and know exactly that everything is truly “organic.” I love gardening!

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.

I Hear You!

As I was signing into this blog tonight, and reading this blog’s title “The Gab of Gratitude,” it struck me that if I didn’t have the ability to hear, I would be limited in the “gabbing” that takes place in my world. So tonight I’m appreciation my hearing. While I’m sure that people born without the ability to hear are blessed with an extraordinary ability to tune in to their other senses, I’m just so grateful that I can hear!

I appreciate all the sounds in my world, especially talking with other people, music, cheering at a sporting event, the sound of trains passing by, the sound of babies, children playing in playgrounds, the television shows, the sound of cats purring, birds chirping, dogs barking, wind whistling through the trees, airplanes taking off and landing, water running, ocean waves, and so much more! I’m so glad to hear myself when I talk to myself, too! So I’m thankful for the ability to hear!

So take a moment and sit and just listen to the sounds in your world. Don’t you appreciate them, too?

It’s Saturday, So Why Am I Up So Early?

It’s Saturday morning and I’m up at 5:30 a.m.! Why is that? While I’m not sure of the answer, as I had intended to sleep in, sometimes waking up early or even in the middle of the night provides opportunities for inspiration, writing and other creative tasks.

I’m not sure I’m feeling particularly creative right now, but I am very grateful it’s Saturday! 🙂 So I decided to do a tiny blog post in appreciation of waking up early and writing another blog post.

Actually, this is just another example of how we can turn what may not seem all that exciting (e.g. waking up early on a Saturday “sleep in” day) into a more positive feeling of appreciation for why it also feels good (I have a topic for my blog post today as part of my blogging everyday for a month at NaBloPoMo). Practicing gratitude everyday (and particularly in the morning for me), establishes a “tone” for my day that usually keeps gaining momentum throughout the day. What we appreciate, radiates and expands.

So this morning I’m grateful for reminding myself of the power of gratitude and the technique of being able to find appreciation in a situation where things didn’t exactly turn out as I expected. There’s always an opportunity to see my early morning Saturday as an opportunity to explore creative pursuits, leaving me free later on to watch my college football (or to take a nap later!), rather than moan and groan about how I really wanted to sleep in this morning and now I’m wide awake. Feel the difference?

Enjoy your Saturday!