Saturday, January 31, 2009

January 31, 2009


NL-131562kiss
Originally uploaded by JEMagain12
Today I am grateful for a clear schedule.

Today I am grateful for my sleep mask so that I could sleep in.

Today I am grateful for Rob.

Today I am grateful for Flickr and the people who share their photos, art, and ephemera there.

Today I am grateful for food bloggers.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change the world.

Month 1: The Gratitude Change

In December of 2008, I began to think about the changes I wanted to make in the New Year. I didn't want to focus on superficial changes, like losing weight or becoming more organized, although both of those things would be beneficial in my life. I decided that I wanted to make a change that would have a lasting impact on my life and the lives of those I meet. Now, at the one month mark, I want to take a look at what I've learned so far.

It hasn't been an easy month. I've had a couple of emergency room visits for x-rays following bad falls. I've broken a couple of toes and sprained the fibular collateral ligament in my knee. I've been doing a detox program with an restricted diet. It's been a particularly stressful month at work, and I've been trying to learn how to be the vice president of education for a large, active Toastmasters club. I am putting in 4 14-hours days plus an 8 hour day every week between work and Toastmasters, so sleep is at a premium. The last week of the month, I've had an exceptionally vigorous intestinal bug. It would have been easy to put this project off until February. Except February will probably be just as challenging, as will March, April, May, etc. This is the world I live in. If I want to change it, I must bring gratitude to bear, even when I'm on the floor yelling, "I've fallen, and I can't get up."

I'm glad I stuck it out this month, because, as a wise person once said, it's in adversity that we meet ourselves. I learned that when life is challenging, I become blind to my blessings. I have to make a concerted effort to bring my focus back to gratitude. If I don't make that effort, the bad stuff takes over. Neurologically, this makes sense. I have an extensive history of trauma and a diagnosis of PTSD. One of the major symptoms of this, for me, is hypervigilance. My brain is always on alert, waiting for something to go wrong. This expectation that bad things will be happening to me is one of the major reasons I wanted to cultivate gratitude in my life - so that I would get into the habit of re-focusing my thoughts. This month taught me that this change is more important for me than I had guessed.

The biggest thing that I learned this month is that it's not enough for me to get up in the morning and write 5 things in a journal. Or to do that before going to bed at night. I learned that this is something I need to do all day long. What works best for me is to keep an email open at work and to add to it in the moment. When I remember to do this, my day is completely transformed, no matter what else is happening. I also believe that writing in my "journal" this way is helping me build the habit of living in gratitude all day long. I'm going to start integrated my day planner into this regime for the times when I'm not at my work email.

It is fascinating to watch how the practice of gratitude can transform a bad day into a good one. I found myself at home this week, sick as a dog, enjoying myself. Why? Because I had comfortable pjs, warm blankets, and paid sick leave. I didn't have to focus on being sick; I could focus instead on the support I had for becoming healthy again. That was a pretty amazing shift in how my day "felt". I'm really looking forward to the second month of living in gratitude.

Friday, January 30, 2009

January 30, 2009

Today I am grateful for Emi and Rob.

Today I am grateful for art blogs.

Today I am grateful for soft pillows and warm blankets.

Today I am grateful for applesauce and frozen peaches.

Today I am grateful for ice packs.

What are you grateful for today? Share your gratitude and change the world.

Today I am grateful for this pale blue dot

Thursday, January 29, 2009

January 29, 2009

Today I am grateful for the Background Fairy.

Today I am grateful for paid sick leave.

Today I am grateful for wet doggy kisses.

Today I am grateful for warm blankets.

Today I am grateful for naps.

Today I am grateful for Turtle Island's coconut milk ice cream sweetened with agave syrup. Yum!

Today I am grateful for Rob and Cheryl stepping into the breach tonight at Toastmasters.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

January 28, 2009

Today I am grateful for rice and hemp protein.

Today I am grateful to be done with the detox program for my food allergies. I feel good!

Today I am grateful for Dee, Rob, and Dan.

Today I am grateful for Dee, Rocky, Leslie, Eric, Erika, and Felicia.

Today I am grateful for Scott, Edwinna, Bill, Lacy, and Lorrie.

Today I am grateful for the kindness of strangers.

What are you grateful for today? Share the gratitude and change the world.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

January 27, 2009

Today I am grateful for Evelyn, Leslie, Dave, Gretchen, Nancy, Cindy, Rob, Emi, and Amy.

Today I am grateful for busy signals. And is that ever a change of opinion! We have Mike to thank for that, so today I am also grateful for Mike!

Today I am grateful for coconut milk ice cream sweetened with agave syrup. Oh, that there is even such a thing in this world is miraculous and nothing else matters.

Today I am grateful for Matt - his courage, his candor, his willingness to be the change.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to listen and share.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change the world while I eat that ice cream!

Monday, January 26, 2009

January 26, 2009

Today I am grateful for Tina, Mike, Gretchen, and Sally.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

Today I am grateful for Whole Foods! Whoo hoo! I hit the motherlode.

Today I am grateful for Melissa and Siobhan.

Today I am grateful for a nameless janitor at ASU who got us a room when we didn't have one reserved.

Today I am grateful for finding a convenient parking space.

Today I am grateful for all the wonderful blogs on public speaking.

What are you grateful for today? Share the gratitude and change the world!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

January 25, 2009

Today I am grateful for time to rest and heal.

Today I am grateful for Emi and Tracy.

Today I am grateful for my electric programmable pressure cooker.

Today I am grateful for comfy pjs.

Today I am grateful for finding rice pasta at Frys Food Store. Whoo hooo!

What are you grateful for? Share the gratitude and change the world.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

January 24, 2009

Today I am grateful for Dee, Mike, Nancy, Laurie, Evelyn, Connie, Sally, Ed, Rico, and Trish.

Today I am grateful for these beautiful long exposure photos.

Today I am grateful for naps.

Today I am grateful for Open Office.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change the world.

Friday, January 23, 2009

January 23, 2009

Today I am grateful for learning how to send a text message! I am finally into the 21st century!

Today I am grateful for Mike, Iliana, Leslie, Kenneth, and Amy.

Today I am grateful for gentle spring rain.

Today I am grateful for coconut rice with sweet potatoes.

Today I am grateful for a quiet day at work.

Today I am grateful for Matt, Emi, and Rob.

Today I am grateful for the Light Rail Pirates.

Today I am grateful for tears and laughter.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change your world.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

January 22, 2009

Today I am grateful for Top Chef.

Today I am grateful for warm blankets.

Today I am grateful for alarm clocks.

Today I am grateful for green salad with lots of veggies.

Today I am grateful for rain.

Today I am grateful for Lynn, Sally, Emi, Rob, Tracy, and Wayne.

Today I am grateful for Carin and Carissa.

Today I am grateful for frozen peaches.

Today I am grateful for Toastmasters.

What are you grateful for? Share the gratitude and change the world. Post your comment below.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

January 21, 2009

Today I am grateful for getting a good night's sleep.

Today I am grateful for a relaxed, productive day at work.

Today I am grateful for a beautiful day so that we could have the windows open at work.

Today I am grateful for Valentine's Day decorations!

Today I am grateful for Jonathon, Mike, Mike, and Leslie.

Today I am grateful for sodoku.

Today I am grateful for El Pollo Loco $1 tacos.

Today I am grateful for Lorrie, Erika and Matthew.

Today I am grateful for the 1812 Overture, which is awesome to play at top volume with the windows open while driving down the freeway on the way home from Toastmasters.

Today I am grateful for the warm weather which allows me the joy of driving with the windows down in the middle of winter.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change the world!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

January 20, 2009

Today I am grateful for a busy, productive day at work.

Today I am grateful for Leslie.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

Today I am grateful to be back on my regular schedule.

Today I am grateful for my weekly massage and the wonderful therapist who works with me, Karen.

Today I am grateful for my La-Z-Boy chair.

Today I am grateful for my car.

Today I am grateful for the mailman.

Today I am grateful for pop music and classical music.

Today I am grateful for rambunctious teenage boys.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Gratitude Angel


Gratitude
Originally uploaded by witchetty

January 19, 2009

Today I am grateful for the Conversations at the Edge blog and today's post on free will.

Today I am grateful for cultural diversity, but even more than that, I am grateful for free speech. Free speech is what propels culturally diverse ideas into the mainstream so that society has the opportunity to benefit. I am grateful for all the brave men and women who face scorn, personal threats, and discrimination to stand up and share their dreams of a better world.

Today I am grateful for Netflix.

Today I am grateful for Emi and Cheryl.

Today I am grateful for my naturopath.

Today I am grateful for paid holidays and naps.

What are you grateful for today? Share the gratitude and change the world.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

January 18, 2009

Today I am grateful for the Appreciation Movie.

Today I am grateful for Anita Renfroe's wonderful sense of humor.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

Today I am grateful for naps.

Today I am grateful that tomorrow is a paid holiday.

Today I am grateful for wet doggy kissess.

Today I am grateful for smoothies.

What are you grateful for today? Share the gratitude, change the world.

Today I am grateful for understanding how gratitude works

"Gratitude is the key to happiness, prosperity and peace. Gratitude does not mean that we cannot change a situation if it does not make us happy or is not in harmony with inner selves..."

Read the rest of the article by Phillip Rosen at Intent.com.

Today I am grateful for Byron Katie and The Work

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Today I am grateful for laughter

January 17, 2009

Today I am grateful for finding out that there is a group on Flickr devoted to gratitude. How cool is that?!

Today I am grateful for Cheryl, Lynn, Nancy, Trish, Cynthia, Jodie Kaye, Stefan, Marilyn, Maggie, Emi, and Judy.

Today I am grateful for Safeway. I picked up some groceries and when I got home, I didn't have the pork loin I bought for dinner. When I called them to explain what happened and told them that I had a sprained knee and couldn't come back in for it, they delivered it to my house. Awesome customer service, Safeway!

Today I am grateful for blueberries, green tea, mangoes, and almonds.

Today I am grateful for Toastmasters. What a fabulous group of positive, exciting people!

Friday, January 16, 2009

January 16, 2009

Today I am grateful for my job.

Today I am grateful for Sally, Dave, Dan, and Gretchen.

Today I am grateful for jicama.

Today I am grateful for The Gratitude Dance:


Thursday, January 15, 2009

January 15, 2009

Today I am grateful for my job.

Today I am grateful for Dave, Cynthia, Mary, Sally, and Bridget.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

Today I am grateful for my walking sticks.

Today I am grateful for my mom.

Today I am grateful for Burt's Bees.

Today I am grateful for Netflix.

Today I am grateful for scented candles.

What are you grateful for today? Please share with the world and post a comment.

January 12, 2009 (late post)

Today I am grateful for Cindy, Stacy, Victor, Mike, Gretchen, Karen, and Dr. Kim.

Today I am grateful for surviving Monday petty cash reconciliation.

Today I am grateful for a tossed green salad with lots of tomato, cucumber, carrots, and purple cabbage.

Today I am grateful for potato chips.

Today I am grateful for several new tricks I learned for Excel.

Today I am grateful for NPR podcasts.

Today I am grateful for Blogger accepting posts via email.

What are you grateful for today?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

January 14, 2009

Today I am grateful for ice, crutches, ace wraps, and La-Z-Boy chairs.

Today I am grateful for Emi, Rob, and Bonnie.

Today I am grateful for paid sick leave.

Today I am grateful for the TWAN project website.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

What are you grateful for today? Share in the comments below and take a step toward changing the world.

Today I am grateful for balloons!

I love this little video that I discovered thanks to Neatorama.


PsyBlog: Gratitude Enhanced by Focusing on End of Pleasurable Experience

"One of the greatest challenges to achieving happiness through gratitude is routine, familiarity and habit. We behave as if the things we enjoy now - health, job, family and friends - will continue forever, despite knowing it's impossible. Usually only a change of some kind really captures our attention.Attacking this complacency is at the heart of a new study which can be used to enhance the power of gratitude....

Read the entire article at PsyBlog.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

January 13, 2009

Today I am grateful for compassionate people at the urgent care.

Today I am grateful that I did NOT break my leg, just a little bruising around the ego.

Today I am grateful for paid sick leave from work.

Today I am grateful for the wonderful post I wrote for January 12 that is still in the outbox of my computer at work. It will be posted late as soon as I get back there.

Today I am grateful for my new cellphone.

Today I am grateful for leftovers.

What are you grateful for today? Share your gratitude in the comments below and change the world.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

January 11, 2009

Today I am grateful for Trader Joe's.

Today I am grateful for garlic.

Today I am grateful for Water, a film about the plight of widows in India. Through this movie we are honored to see the spiritual awakening of two widows and to learn more about the Indian culture.

Today I am grateful for Netflix (see above) because it helps me find movies I would never find otherwise.

Today I am grateful for polenta - yum!

What are you grateful for? Share it in the comments and change the world.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

January 10, 2009

Today I am grateful for water.

Today I am grateful for bloggers who post recipes that feature ingredients that I can eat!

Today I am grateful for Evelyn and Lee.

Today I am grateful for Emi, who brought me a pineapple from Hawaii.

Today I am grateful for sweet potato fries at the Rumbi Grill.

Today I am grateful for Gmail.

Today I am grateful for Netflix :)

Friday, January 9, 2009

January 9, 2009

Today I am grateful for a very quiet Casual Friday, sweatshirts that are too big, and comfortable jeans.

Today I am grateful for water.

Today I am grateful for Bob, Bridget, Cynthia, Jasmine, Gretchen, Iliana, and Jessica.

Today I am grateful for bubble wrap.

Today I am grateful for finishing another sodoku. I think I'm getting the hang of it!

Today I am grateful for finally figuring out how to fix a Publisher document that has been driving me crazy for a week.

Today I am grateful for a new episode of Monk.

Today I am grateful for candles.

Today I am grateful for Burt's Bees Carrot Day Creme.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

January 8, 2009

Today I am grateful for water.

Today I am grateful for pumpkin seeds.

Today I am grateful for Toastmasters.

Today I am grateful for Cheryl, Rob, Bonnie, and Jessi.

Today I am grateful for Teresa, Christi, and Jeremy.

Today I am grateful for Barbara.

What are you grateful for? Share your gratitude and change the world!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

January 7, 2009

Today I am grateful for Lee, Lorie, and Donna.

Today I am grateful for Toastmasters.

Today I am grateful for my boss and his flexibility.

Today I am grateful for almonds.

Today I am grateful for water.

Today I am grateful for my brain.

Today I am grateful for good eyesight.

Today I am grateful for Annette.

What are you grateful for today? Share in the comments below.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

January 6, 2009

Today I am grateful for water and for Mike who taught me how to drink a gallon a day without drowning in it.

Today I am grateful for for the detox formula I'm using to help clean out my liver.

Today I am grateful for the boys in the Youth Leadership program I'm conducting.

Today I am grateful for Tom and Luanne.

Today I am grateful for managing to solve a sodoku puzzle. Apparently I'm not as dumb as I look. LOL

Today I am grateful for a good night's sleep last night and for another one tonight.

What are you grateful for today?

Monday, January 5, 2009

January 5, 2009

Today I'm grateful for a new work week and co-workers who are happy and relaxed.

Today I'm grateful for my parents' health.

Today I'm grateful for my laptop.

Today I'm grateful for goofy kids.

Today I'm grateful for my naturopath.

Today I'm grateful for mixed nuts.

Today I'm grateful for a good night's sleep.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

January 4, 2009

Today I am grateful for clean water to drink.

Today I am grateful for rain in the desert.

Today I am grateful for my silly dog who always keeps me laughing.

Today I am grateful for Flickr.

Today I am grateful for soft pillows and warm blankets.

Today I am grateful for naps (again!).

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for inspiring movies

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Today I am grateful for bagpipes


Pipe and drum
Originally uploaded by Reluctant Aquarian
These are just a couple of the talented members of a pipe and drum corps that was playing at the First Friday Art Walk in Phoenix on 1/2/09. Awesome music!

January 3, 2009

Today I am grateful for the story of peace and unity in Joyeux Noel.

Today I am grateful for the reminder of the importance of touch from Dr. Mao courtesy of intent.com

Today I am grateful for Burt's Bees Carrot Day Cream, which is eally helping my skin heal itself.

Today I am grateful for Saturday afternoon naps.

Today I am grateful for my silly dog. He has been carrying around this huge rawhide bone he got for Christmas. Today he finally decided to start working on it. He's so proud of himself that he's strutting.

Today I am grateful for my naturopath. Having done the test for IgG food intolerances has really changed my life. In the past, going on the First Friday art walk left me feeling hungover, sore, and miserable for 3-4 days. Since eliminating whey, eggs, wheat, and cane sugar from my diet, I did the art walk last night and today is just a normal day. I feel great. Hooray!

What are you grateful for?

Today I am grateful for Validation

Wonderful video found at the One Consciousness blog courtesy of Travis Wright.

This video made me remember that I am grateful for smiles, compliments, persistent people, and love.

Today I am grateful for the wisdom of Mark Gehrke

"Straight line thinking tends to create more challenge and stress. It’s also a limited success path. Keeping your life and your business on a straight path takes a lot of energy. When something has to change ( and it will ) a bigger change is often required. We really can not follow a straight line in our thinking forever. It’s not the way the earth moves and it’s not the way we’re wired to live. Let go of straight line thinking and you open a periphery of continual insight. Shift from straight line thought and planning to spherical awareness." Mark Gehrke at Mandala Life Media

Friday, January 2, 2009

January 2, 2009

Today I am grateful for being able to take my dog to work today.

Today I am grateful for a productive and quiet day at work today (except for random running and chasing after tennis ball).

Today I am grateful for Rob who invites me to First Friday art walks every month.

Today I am grateful for a beautiful sunshine-y day.

Today I am grateful for low gas prices.

Today I am grateful for leftover curry. Always better the second day - yum!

Today I am grateful for having something that seals envelopes for me so that I don't have to lick them. That's so yucky!

Today I am grateful for the Netflix mailer in my mailbox this afternoon. I always get excited when I see that red mailer!

Today I am grateful for free speech and free will. Even though humans misuse both horribly, I can't imagine life without them.

Today I am grateful for birdsong.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

January 1, 2009

Today I am grateful for my sleep mask. I can sleep through my neighbor's insanely bright security lights and I can sleep in on holidays like today.

Today I am grateful for my mom because she taught me how to cook by instinct rather than religious reliance on recipes/cookbooks.

Today I am grateful for Alex Delaware novels by Jonathon Kellerman.

Today I am grateful for Blogger and WordPress offering free blog hosting to the masses. Very cool way to be of service to the world.

Today I am grateful for @LisaBraithwaite for sharing the video in this blog posting.

Today I am grateful for beautiful, sunny weather and for my friend, Scott, who convinced me to leave the frigid midwest over 20 years ago to move to Phoenix. Scott, whereever you are, I wish you were here.