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Blessings and Lessons
What if every single thing you experienced today was either a blessing or a lesson? Counteracting the Complaints We’ve talked a lot about complaints and how easy it is to complain and spot things that are less than ideal. This week has been such a reminder about my own tendencies to complain. I have been…
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Listen to Your Heart
It is drawing you near. Do you hear? The Draw of Your Heart Sometimes my heart feels far far away. And sometimes even when it feels near it seems to be behind a fog. When my heart is distant like this it can feel like I am separate from the world and from myself. But…
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Your Voice. Your Truth. Your Gratitude.
Trust Your Inner Bullshit Detector The Beauty of Truth (Even When It’s Not Pretty) Don’t fake your gratitude. Telling your truth in your gratitude is vital for getting the benefit of the practice. Don’t say what you think you should be grateful for. Don’t say what you wish you were grateful for. Use your voice.…
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A Recipe for Feeling Alive
Acceptance and Appreciation Throughout What Makes You Feel Alive? It is such an individual thing. What makes you feel alive and what makes me feel alive are probably vastly different. But as I hold my animal companion through her last days I have been thinking a lot about how often it is the simplest things…
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Throwback: It Isn’t about Leading a Charmed Life … Or Is It?
Issue #1 redux Sometimes I Look for Gratitude and Only Find Worry Sometimes I fear when people read my gratitude posts they think that it is easy for me because I have such a great life. When that fear emerges I want to tell everyone who will listen my woes about money and business and…
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But Is It True?
The only gratitude rule that matters. Until The Truth Came Out Last night I was writing my gratitude and I was a little distracted. That was my first problem. I’ve learned that the key to practicing gratitude is to be present. So I took a few mindful breaths and began again. But then I got…
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All the Brilliant Things of 2018
Download: Reflecting On Your Year With Gratitude Reflecting on the Brilliant Moments This time of year brings such mixed feelings for me. At times I feel extremely connected and valued. Other times I feel lonely and insecure. I go from feeling happy to sad to relaxed to bored sometimes all in one day! The introspection that…
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Disconnecting for and with Gratitude
Sometimes I am grateful for my phone and computer. Other times … Untethered Gratitude Sometimes I am grateful for my phone and computer and all I can do with the internet at my fingertips: taking in art and music, learning, finding what I need, feeling seen and connected through social media. Other times I feel overwhelmed,…
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A Recipe for Getting Out of Your Own Way
Do you know how all this gratitude started for me? Living Your Best Life Before gratitude became the focus of my work and even before I started practicing gratitude, I used to use it as a tool to help people on their path to creating the life they wanted. I was doing health and wellness coaching…
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Without Expectation of Thanks
How dare they not thank me? When My Expectations Get in the Way Earlier this week my classmates were complaining about their low grades on the midterm exam, frustrated that the professor was not open to offering extra credit or any other accommodations. I asked about one particular question on the exam that I got…
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To Have Not or to Have
Celebrating what we have through gratitude. Today It can be so easy to look forward with worry or anticipation. To look back with regret or nostalgia. But today calls for your attention. Today is here. Today is real. And even when we are present in what is real today it can be so easy to…
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The Unlikely Gratitude Expert
I must confess. I am grumpy. And grateful. Yes, We Can We can be grateful. Not just us. Everyone can. Even the most grumpy person we know. The most cynical. The most punk rock. The most intellectual. The most in pain. Depressed. Worried. Hopeless. Addicted. Everyone is grateful for something at one time or another.…
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There Are No Words
… {Gasp} Sometimes gratitude fills you. Completely. So full that your heart just seems to expand more and more and more. And your skin can't possibly hold it all in. Those moments of gratitude are so big that everything else slips away. And we are fully enveloped in the blessing in front of us. Years ago…
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The Teacher Appears
Ready or not. Hello, Teacher What teacher has shown up in your life recently? A fly that reminds you to keep the screens closed and to pick up dog poop. A child amazed at a simple blade of grass. That person who reminds you of the importance of clearly communicating your no. A rose bush…
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Ever Feel Like You Aren’t Doing Enough?
Small Matters That Post-Inspiration Paralysis A few of you replied to the email last week to tell me how much you loved what I wrote. You were brought to tears. You were inspired. You want to do it. Really. Sing your big and beautiful swan sang. Make your mark. Feel proud of yourself. Go big.…
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With Everything You’ve Got
Don’t wait to sing your swan song. The Most Beautiful Song One day when I was a teenager in my parents' house I heard the most beautiful music. It was so intense and complex and captivating that it drew me out of my self-absorbed and friend-obsessed ways. I immediately tried to locate where this music…
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Nothing Was Abandoned
Do I still believe that the secret to happiness is low expectations? Expectations vs. Presence I used to believe that the key to happiness was low expectations. Maybe I still do. Our quote this week by Björk really has me pondering the relationship between being present, having expectations and gratitude. She is basically saying that…
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Aah Relaxation
Kick your heels up. Sink into the gratitude that only relaxation brings. We All Deserve a Rest Give yourself the gift of relaxation. Because you need it. Because the world needs it. Take the time that you can whether that is a long weekend or a lingering cup of tea. Do what you can to…
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Blooming
What can we do to make the environment right for gratitude? Petals Opening up Towards the Sun The lilies in my pond open up each day, petals open towards the sun, when the sun is high in the sky. Then they close up tight in their buds protected as the cool weather of late afternoon…
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Awesome Things
Awesome things about this and that. All around. Look for the Awesome We know complaints can be so natural and easy. We also know that we often don’t realize how grateful we are for something until it’s gone. So let’s get ahead of this thing and look for a few awesome things in each of…