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Disturbing but True
I just couldn’t find gratitude in that situation so I looked away. You have heard my gratitude time and time again for the toads in my backyard. From mating calls, eggs, tadpoles, back to toads their life cycle brings me so much joy. When I bought this house the backyard was a wasteland of weeds…
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Will you be jinxed if you do this?
Release the Jinx Some people say that they don’t want to say how good things are going for them out of fear of jinxing it. This superstition directly stands in the way of practicing gratitude because that’s what this practice is, drawing attention to the good things we are experiencing. Feeling fearful that good things…
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One Fact Took Me from Appalled and Judgmental to Humbled
When you see a person, see the good I once worked at a middle school and was part of a team of people from vastly different backgrounds. There were middle school administrators and teachers, University directors and staff, college students who led after school activities, medical providers and me as the health educator. This was…
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This Is Where I Feel Gratitude
The Poetry of Emotion Gratitude, like all emotions, is like artwork, expansive and uncontainable. Sometimes these feelings in my body last a long time while other times they are fleeting. This poetry of emotion sometimes emerges as a sensation in my body. Gratitude does not always show up the same way but a couple of…
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Do you remember your dreams?
Saying Thank You for my Dreams For the longest time I have been intrigued by my dreams. I like to remember them, talk about them, and explore the meaning behind the images. The problem is that I often do not remember them. Even though I know how I can remember them if I really want…
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Giving with a Grateful Heart
Teaching Ourselves to Give with Gratitude We are taught to always say thank you when we receive a gift, a generous gesture or anything else. But very few of us are taught to say thank you for the opportunity to give. This realization came to me when I read the online rant of someone I…
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Today We Make a Positive Change
Transforming Self We are on our final of six weeks of focusing on our inner selves to be the change we wish to see in the world. This week is all about making positive changes. What a journey we have been on these last six weeks. A journey of self-discovery. A journey of gratitude. A…
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Today We Practice Self-Care
Nurturing, Caring, Healing We are on our fifth of six weeks of focusing on our inner selves to be the change we wish to see in the world. This week is all about self-care. Stop running around buying this and that, doing this and that, saying this and that, eating this and that. Just stop for…
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Today We Practice Self-Love
Love Love and more Love We are on our fourth of six weeks of focusing on our inner selves to be the change we wish to see in the world. This week is all about self-love. So here we are at self-love though it seems this should have been the place to start. Can…
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Today We Practice Self-Compassion
You Are Your Own Best Friend We are on our third of six weeks of focusing on our inner selves to be the change we wish to see in the world. This week is all about self-compassion. Last week we talked about accepting and respecting ourselves no matter what. But we can take that one…
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Today We Practice Self-Acceptance
Notice. Accept. Release. We are on our second of six weeks of focusing on our inner selves to be the change we wish to see in the world. This week is all about self-acceptance. Earlier in the week I was having a hard time. It is hard to describe what was going on with me…
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What about You?
Make the world a better place – start with you. What does it take for you to be healthy in mind, body and spirit? You probably immediately thought about nutrition and exercise. Those are very important but what else? Maybe your gratitude practice, meditation, reading … There is so much we can do for our…
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What Are You Waiting For?
Your Written Invitation Sometimes things just aren’t going our way. Whether tremendous loss (our quote today is from Anne Frank’s diary) or the smallest of inconveniences (like having to turn around and drive back 45 minutes in the wrong direction because I forgot something earlier) it can be hard to find gratitude. When that happens…
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Don’t wish me happiness …
May you have strength I am selling aluminum bracelets, that I hand-stamp with inspirational words, at my mom’s store, La Parada. Words such as grateful, hope, happy, love, and believe are pounded into the smooth shiny aluminum. When I was deciding on the inspirational words I would choose I had a long list of about…
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Stop Telling That Tired Old Story
You know that one story you tell? We all have those stories. Our own horror stories about being picked on as a child, an old boss who didn’t support us, an ex who betrayed us, being left out, gaining weight, being a victim of a crime, a car crash we were in, eating something that…
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Learning love and gratitude as we go.
Have you ever loved a stranger? 1000gratitudes was a beautiful experience. So much love and gratitude across the internet and in Albuquerque at the gratitude party. My heart was open wide primed with a day full of experiencing and posting my gratitude. At the party I felt so much love for every person who came through…
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How many gratitudes will you share in one day?
Moment after Moment I’m a big fan of starting over. Sometimes if I am having trouble communicating I will just ask to start over. It works for me. Going throughout my days moment after moment I can choose to start over. In this moment I can choose gratitude. I can refocus or continue my same…
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175 Prayers of Gratefulness and Peace
Tiny Bundles of Thanks I was at an art exhibit on Friday and had the opportunity to experience a work of art by Rhett Lynch that incorporated 175 tiny bundles made from red fabric tied with a tiny piece of string and meticulously attached to a painting, in neat rows. I was taken by my…
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Can the scientific mind be grateful?
Yes, through Observation and Gathering Data The great thing about gratitude is that it doesn’t require us to believe in it as long as we experience it. You also do not have to be a grateful person in order to experience gratitude. Even if you are a realist, a scientist, a skeptic or a nihilist you can…
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Romancing your Organs – Introduction to Daoist Meditation eCourse Week 3
Romancing your Organs Introduction to Daoist Meditation eCourse Week 2 – written by Matt Parsons If you are just joining the eCourse now or have not had time to consistently practice the lessons from Weeks 1 and 2, please return to Melting your Issues and then Drawing the Wheel before progressing to Week 3. This is a…