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!

Lunch

At my day job, we order out a lot. We also occasionally bring in food and have a potluck. And, we often bring our own lunches. But what I like about my environment is how we often eat together. Now many people may not find eating with one’s co-workers that much fun, but I happen to really enjoy it. We spend so much time with each other, it’s almost like having lunch with our family: our work family.

Not everyone likes to eat together at work but I’m grateful that there are many of us who do. It’s a nice way to get to know each other, talk about “off-work” topics and occasionally share in each others’ food for that day, share jokes, stories and family recipes. We laugh and generally don’t “talk shop” when we eat, so it’s a good stress reliever, too.

Today I’m grateful for my work lunches with my office mates. I appreciate their company, and the fact that we all have jobs that put food on our work table every afternoon during the week!

Vote

Today is Election Day in the United States. Having visited countries where its citizens do not have that privilege, as well as having relatives in another country who were denied life opportunities because they chose to voice their opinion about their government, and remembering my visits there where we often had to lower our voices when we discussed politics in the privacy of a home, out of fear that “someone” was listening, I totally know and appreciate my right to vote.

Just some “food for thought” for those who think that voting isn’t worth it anymore. Enough said! I’m off to exercise this privilege and so grateful that I have it! Thank you!

Love For My Two Daughters

On this Mother’s Day of 2010, I am so grateful for my two daughters, Amanda and Andrea! As many mothers know, it is difficult to express exactly how deep love flows between a mother and her children. Words cannot express how connected that bond is. But my words can express how appreciative that these two beautiful young women are my children. I love you both and it was a love that began even before you were born.

I remember vividly that first moment when our eyes met each other after your birth. That bonding when our souls said, “Hi there! I know you and I love you! We are connected now for all of eternity.” While the umbilical cord connecting us got cut after birth, the mother/daughter love connection never ends. It is eternal, forever, beyond infinity… and I am grateful for that. I’m grateful that we are in this thing called life together. I’m grateful for all of the laughter, the love, the silliness and yes, the fights. While that may feel strange to you to read that, it is what a mother knows is a necessary part of seeing her children grow and develop. It is a reminder of how we mothers often fought with our own mothers, yet still the bond between us runs deep.

I am also so grateful that you have each other as “sisters.” What a beautiful connection that is and, as an only child, one that I never got to experience. But I see it and feel it from you. A little piece of me gets to “live” it through you.

I love the differences in your personalities and am  grateful that you are each your own person: each with her own role to play in life. While most people think of parents as being the “teachers” for their children, I know that you are my teachers. You have taught me a lot about life and particularly about myself by being you. I am now a better person because of it!

I couldn’t have asked for better daughters than you both! So, on this Mother’s Day of 2010, I give you my appreciation, respect, gratitude and love. Thank you! Thank you for being my daughters! I love you both very much.

Songs That Make You Feel Good

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love music and most forms of it. Music can influence us in so many ways: by drowning in our sorrows to uplifting our souls and everything in between. For me, any song that either makes me laugh or makes me feel like dancing is a wonderful way to raise my spirit and feel good.

Now there are MANY songs that I can put here but today I am grateful for one in particular. It’s a song from the disco era of the 70′s and it’s Boogie Wonderland, from the fabulous group Earth, Wind and Fire.  When I watch this version, I can’t help but  laugh and smile at all the fun they were having singing, dancing, twirling trumpets, tossing tamborines and dancing tangos with their guitars! It makes me feel really good and gets me dancing everytime.

So, thank you for this song, Earth, Wind and Fire! Some thirty years later, I still feel really good hearing it. Shall we dance?

Appreciating The Contrast

When challenges occur in our lives, it’s often difficult to see the blessings contained within them  until later. Yet, time-after-time, it has been my experience in life that there’s always a blessing gained from those “challenging” times.  Even when it seems like you can’t possibly take it any longer, somehow you manage to make it through it.  I know first-hand that “This, too, shall pass.”

Appreciating the contrast (of what you don’t want or have experienced) can be a very powerful tool in defining what you do want and to creating a better life for yourself. Appreciating the contrast can also serve you in that it’s  a “softer” way to accept those life challenges and to move forward with your life in peace.  Hanging around in states of blame, anger, worry, revenge, or just re-telling our “story” over and over again only keeps us in a stagnant place when we could be learning from the experience and enjoying life instead.

What’s past is past. Let it go! You cannot go back and change it anyway, so why beat yourself up going over and over it in your mind, with your stories to others, the complaints or with regret? Whenever we fight against the not-so-positive experiences of our lives, we usually end up with more to fight about (because we attract the same type of thing that we’re fighting by all that focus on it).

So, the beauty is in the appreciation of the contrast. Bless it, learn from it and let it go! After all, no one is perfect or all the same. Isn’t that a wonderful thing, by the way? Imagine how boring it would be if we were all perfect and the same? We’d have no choices, no motivation to grow, and no creativity! It sounds rather dull to me, so I prefer the choices: the contrast.

By being grateful for what comes up (including things that you really don’t want),  you’ll see a positive difference in your outlook on life because you’ll attract much more to be grateful for. And the next time a “challenge” comes along, you’ll get better at dealing with it, too.

What A Fun Flight!

On Friday, September 4, 2009, I had the pleasure of being on Northwest Airlines flight 3343, (now known as Delta) from Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Now if anyone has ever flown these flights, you probably know that the planes are small and it can get quite cramped. The good news is that the flight is short but usually so short that you’re not served any drink or food either. But in the spirit of appreciating what’s great about these flights, I do like the fact that they fly rather low and you can look out over the countryside and see the beauty of the landscape beneath or the cloud formations around and above. And, as I mentioned, they are short so after having just spent time on a longer flight from the East coast to Minneapolis and some time waiting in the airport, I am always appreciative when I’m on this last leg of my itinerary, as I know that soon I’ll be off the plane and into a vehicle headed toward Iowa City.

What made this particular flight special was not the scenery on the outside, but the behavior of the lone flight attendant, Kimberly. (I think that was her name!) She was absolutely wonderful. I was smiling and laughing and she really made my day. What did she do or say, you ask?

Well, I knew that I was in for a treat when she announced “We’ll be working together to ensure that we will have an on-time departure.” Her choice of words and tone of voice was so positive and cooperative (rather than a repetitive list of rules that one often hears but doesn’t really listen to). Wow. She got my attention.

So when she began her speech on using the seatbelt, demonstrating the exits and showing us the oxygen masks by saying, “I know that many of you are frequent fliers and have heard this speech millions of times, but I’d really like you to know that it’s my turn to shine so I’d appreciate the audience!” I put my book on my lap and gave her my 100% full attention.

But her fun and service didn’t stop there. She gave us a quiz and later came around to ask what we came up with, and announced the results over the loudspeaker. The quiz went something like this: “If you could have 50 pounds of anything (other than money), what would it be?” She shared that her response was guacamole and that the pilot’s choice was pulled pork…

When she came around to me, I shared with her that I thought of e-tickets because they wouldn’t weigh anything so they’re endless, and I could take my friends and family with me wherever I go! Then I shared with her that if she thought that my answer was too “monetarily-based,” I’d take love or happiness because that also cannot be measured and it, too, would be endless! Needless to say, she thought that I had put a lot of thought into my answer.

She mingled and mixed with all of us on the plane that day. We talked about raising teenage drivers, Harry Potter books and living in Wisconsin and she gave some water to a few people who asked for it before going back to the loudspeaker to announce the results of the quiz.

What was the #1 answer by the other passengers on the flight, you ask? The number one answer was beer! I guess my fellow Iowans were anxious to begin their Labor Day festivities that weekend…or they got thirsty with the thought of all that pulled pork and guacamole! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at how much fun that whole exercise was.

Thank you, Kimberly, for the unexpected fun! It was great and you made my day! I so appreciate people like you!

Thanks, People!

Do you appreciate the people in your life? Tell them so! Today I’m reminded of how grateful I am for my two precious daughters, my sweet mother, and my wonderful significant other. It’s easy to appreciate people we love. But what about people that challenge us or with whom we feel we don’t get along?

I have found that when I reach for feelings of appreciation in people that I’m having “challenges” with, that they no longer bother me as much. Soon, I’m seeing more and more positive aspects of them which I can easily appreciate. It’s a simple concept yet often difficult to remember to do. Yet this one simple technique can literally change your life. It’s as if everyone who used to bother you suddenly change, yet it’s really your own feelings and energy surrounding them that has shifted.

So choose the good thoughts about someone who is “bugging” you. Then thank them! Find something to appreciate and see how miraculously things shift.