Tell Me What You Do Every Day and I’ll Tell You Who You Are
I am working on establishing a new daily habit. A learning habit. Throughout the month of June I am committed to starting my day with a few minutes of skill-building as I learn Illustrator. I have been really liking this software program and starting my day in this way has been very fulfilling. That is until I stopped. Yes, today was the first weekday that I skipped my lesson. And all day I have been a bit off-kilter. This morning I thought I just didn’t have the time because I was busy fighting fires. It reminded me of all the times I started writing gratitude in my journal only to walk away from it convincing myself that I didn’t need to write it down. But I did need to write it down. Unfortunately I didn’t know that until after I had been writing down daily gratitude for about a year.
How many other habits have I abandoned before I learned the lessons I was meant to learn? Or felt the way I was meant to feel? Yoga, meditation, writing stream of consciousness morning pages, walking, reading, playing music, drawing, watching the sunset, greeting the dawn with prayer, writing my gratitude. These are all things that I intended to do as an ongoing daily practice at one time or another. The only one I am still doing to this day is my gratitude practice. When I look at this list it makes me think about how busy I am and that I don’t have time for these things.
Well maybe that is true. Maybe I don’t have time. But one thing that I’ve learned is that some activities make me feel like I have more time. And some are black holes of time, like drinking alcohol or gazing at a screen. What I have found with my gratitude practice is that while the habit itself only takes a few minutes, it changes my perspective as I go about the world. I notice more. I savor more. These things are like a savings bank of time. When I savor time stands still. Like last night when a few people were looking at the night sky and I followed their gaze just in time to see an owl fly by. It passed in a split second but I really savored it completely. The pattern of its flight and the contrast of its white wings against the deep blue black of the sky.
So, while I’m not going to tackle that huge list of daily habits all at once, for now I am going to recommit to my learning habit. Because there will always be an excuse to not do it. But I don’t want to live my life in reaction and excuses. I want to set my own course. I want to notice and savor and be loyal to the things that bring meaning and purpose into my life.
[su_quote cite=”Confucius”]Men’s natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.[/su_quote]
This Week’s Gratitude Question
[su_button url=”http://www.ourgratitudecollective.com/activity/” background=”#178fb3″]What habit are you grateful to have in your daily life?[/su_button]
My Gratitude Experience Last Week
I always try to express my feelings and share them with you but there is always some sort of limitation in my written words to truly capture their essence. That is until I discovered spoken.co, a site to share mini audio recordings. One day last week I was feeling gratitude in a big way and I did an audio recording of myself expressing it. So powerful and it really captured the feeling. Listen to it if you’d like.
Forgotten Gratitude
Last week I was also grateful for a bunch of new voices asking gratitude questions … The smell of pine pitch … Surplus’s smiles captured in photos … Nicole ignoring my grumpies which took away their power.
A New eCard
Image by Antonia Montoya
The Gratitude I Shared Last Week
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| Sun | 6/14/2015 | I’m grateful for a fun time celebrating Markus with a Fantastic Mr Fox on the grass, so much laughter … Seeing a beautiful white owl in flight … Laundry done, finally … Sleep overtaking me. |
| Sat | 6/13/2015 | I’m grateful for my mood bouncing up high after being grounded when I awoke, thanks to Pride fun and dancing … Walking around in the rain, together … The most delicious greens and brisket, seriously … An evening to myself. |
| Fri | 6/12/2015 | I’m grateful for a kick ass cover song fairly effortlessly coming together, and for the other one that is challenging the hell out of me … Time to shut my eyes earlier when they really need it … A great haircut, it felt like I was gambling with my look especially when I could feel her hands shaking but she gave me the best cut I’ve had in a while, phew! |
| Thu | 6/11/2015 | For strong women in my life, learning, teaching, a harmony of voices … For gratitude giver gifts, so much fun to create these wonderful pieces of mail … For being able to move my body, for access to food … For a plethora of information, entertainment, and music. |
| Wed | 6/10/2015 | Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all there is to do? I’m feeling that right now and feeling like I should utilize my natural ability to be strategic instead of reactionary. I’m grateful for naturally being strategic … I’m grateful for a story coming to me and putting in the time to write and invest in my ideas and writing process … I’m grateful for my loud and rumbly bass ukulele. |
| Tue | 6/9/2015 | Hello gratituders … I’m grateful for an exciting creative project that energized me even though that energy is keeping me awake … I’m grateful for delicious cherries twice today … I’m grateful for making a music connection with a business colleague; I had no idea she’s a drummer … I’m grateful for being able to vent earlier; it didn’t solve anything but it felt good. |
| Mon | 6/8/2015 | My morning was so nice, reading online and in print, coffee, learning, and even a little weed pulling in my robe … I’m also grateful for a clean kitchen especially the stove … Inspiration coming right on schedule … Being able to catch up with a far away friend. |
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[su_note note_color=”#e7e7e7″ text_color=”#686767″ radius=”0″] My gratitude journey started in May 2011 and continues to this day. Thank you for being a part of it! A daily gratitude practice is simple. Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Download your free GratitudeGuide. My clients focus on gratitude and learn from their successes to make the positive changes they want in their lives. You can too. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336. [/su_note]