Posts tagged ‘Being grateful’

February 18th, 2010

The Most Extraordinary Things in Life Are Most Ordinary

I apologize for being MIA as of late. My dad’s been in town from Hawaii and we’ve been hopping from Yosemite to Sonoma to San Francisco, giving “Amazing Race” a run for it’s money.

I did get oodles and oodles of photos and material for my blog. But more on that later.

One of the gifts of my dad’s trip was something I already knew, but had the opportunity to re-learn: Sometimes the most extraordinary moments in life are the most ordinary.

I can honestly say that the memories that give me goosebumps were surprisingly not the snowcapped mountaintops or the view of the bay during sunset. Although both in retrospect could easily bring tears to my eyes.

What actually sticks out in my mind are two rather ordinary moments that happened when we weren’t visiting the sights. Sorry Half Dome and Fisherman’s Wharf. Looks like sitting at home and walking around Trader Joe’s wins this race!

When I think back to the whirlwind of my dad’s visit, I smile when I think of the times we were sitting still instead of racing on. One moment occurred even when I wasn’t in the room.

I was taking a shower and through the running water, heard a simple sound that made me think we could have spent the whole time sitting around. It was the sound of my dad and husband’s laughter. Honestly, that sound was worth more than the 4 hour trip to Yosemite or the museum we waited 2 hours and a mound of kids for.

They were talking over their love of the guitar. My dad sitting on our only guest bed-an air bed from Target and my husband cross-legged on the ground. And the two laughing about simple things like strumming. It was a moment worth its weight in gold. A moment to be treasured.

The second moment was surprisingly even more ordinary than the first one. Walking around Trader Joe’s picking out trail mix and pointing out my favorite chips. There was just something so safe, familiar and touching about the moment. The cashier even offered us a sample of the chocolate chip cookies I was eyeing. Not a scene that would make it to a movie because of its ordinariness, but one I will store away for a rainy day.

Maybe it’s a reminder for all of us to put as much love, attention, focus and energy on celebrating every day not just the so-called big ones.

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September 21st, 2009

Taking Reader Requests

Since this week is showing itself to be a busy one, I decided to feed two birds with one bread (a.k.a. kill two birds with one stone).  I’m taking up a suggestion from one 2inspired reader Bridget by keeping this one short and sweet and by following an friend’s email challenge she sent today.  So here goes:

In honor of World Gratitude day, I’m taking part in my friend Lea’s Gratitude Challenge.  This means for 21 days I’m going to take note of all the things in my life that I have to be grateful for (something tells me that there will be a lot). You can download the Gratitude Challenge calendar on the website or be like Oprah and write about it in a daily gratitude journal.  I’m opting for the latter.

Anyway, in honor of World Gratitude Day, what do YOU have to be grateful for?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxlXLDMG0Q&hl=en&fs=1&]

CategoryStories of Gratitude | CommentNo Comments »

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August 3rd, 2009

Practice Your Happy Dance

I just finished reading The Boss of You by Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon. They devoted an entire chapter about celebrating your successes. An entire chapter! What does that say? Well to me it says being your own cheerleader is just as important as anything else when following your dreams.

This means no more thinking that the happy dance or that bottle of champagne that you’ve been saving, are for when you REALLY strike it big. The little moments deserve attention too. In fact, in their book Mears and Bacon list risk taking and even enduring a rough week as enough reason to celebrate and I agree. If not now, then when?

Sometimes we have this fear, usually us women, that if we indulge in a little celebration, that arrogance that life is really going well will come back and bite us in the behind. But I think that kind of thinking only sets us up for more disappointment. Life has its ups and downs but when we do a little happy dance when things are good, we’re inviting more good things our way. And we can either focus on being grateful for what we do have or suffer in what we don’t. I’d chose the former and I’d advise you to do the same. 

After all, the path of a dreamer is a long, challenging one. We’re going to need a lot of happy dances along the way!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRwsTyUPIYE&hl=en&fs=1&]

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July 24th, 2009

Preventing Dream Burn Out

Dream chasing can be exhausting. For one, it’s like going after that unattainable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The faster you run, the farther away it gets until it’s out of reach. The one big worry when you attempt to fulfill your dreams? You’ll run out of gas, right before you get to the end.

To prevent dream burn out, read these helpful remedies.

  1. Celebrate all of your victories, even the seemingly minor ones. A compliment? New blog viewers/customers? An email from a potential client? Take time to do a little, “Yay me!” whenever anything good happens to you. It’s so easy to keep pushing ahead but it’s important to treasure all the good things that are happening to you right now!
  2. Practice patience. If only we could all make our dreams come true with the snap of our fingers and the wave of a magic wand. But in reality, dreams take time to come to life. Remember that every thing comes in due time. Take a deep breath and reflect on what you want for your future and what you need now until then.
  3. Learn gratitude. A part of celebrating the good things is learning to appreciate them as well. It may be harder on some days than others to find something to be grateful for but learning gratitude is essential to your well-being now and in the future.
  4. Take a break. There will always be more ___ that needs to be done. Press pause when you need to and remember even the most successful people take breaks.
  5. Remember where you have been. When you remember what you have been through and all the challenges you have faced thus far, the road ahead seems less daunting. Recall the past mountains you have already climbed and charge ahead revitalized by the strength and courage of your past.

There will always be challenges in front of us, more projects to tackle and people to compete with who want the same things. The best thing we can do for our dreams? Invest in ourselves.

New York

CategoryInspirational Stories, Stories of Gratitude | Comment2 Comments »

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July 2nd, 2009

Are you a cat or a dog?

My co-worker yesterday told me that he was half-cat.  Knowing he wasn’t crazy, I asked him to clarify.  He said he lived life thinking that he had at least 3 more to go.  “Ah!” I said.  Now I get it.  I told him, “Well I’m a dog then.  Cause I live life like I only have one.”  

How do you live your life?  

Are you still waiting for life to happen to you?  Feel like you have forever and a day to make that dream come true?  For all we know, we only have one life so we might as well live it to the fullest. 

A dog's life

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June 30th, 2009

How to Cover a Blunder

A pimple can be covered with concealer but a blunder?  A blunder may need to be exposed no matter how unattractive it is to its beholder.  Whether you failed a test, stuck your foot in your mouth, hit send on an angry “I will never send” email, blunders are truth tellers and you’ll be better off listening to what they’re trying to say.

The hard part may be taking it.  Sure the lesson may be to spend more time checking your work in advance, or rereading your email, but your head may be saying, “You idiot!”  

So what do you do when you’ve encountered a personal blunder? 

While failing has the power to make others quit before they’re ahead, it fuels my fire.  Yes messing up doesn’t feel good but there are ways to get around it so that you get all the benefits of learning a lesson without torturing yourself to get there.

Get Physical!  “When the going gets tough, the tough gets moving.”  Get up and get out and do something!  I love zumba because it’s fun and challenging to the point that I can’t think about anything else but what I’m doing in the moment.  The key is to find something that changes your thinking from past thoughts “Why didn’t I?” to present minded thinking “What am I doing now?”

Forgive Yourself.  I’m sure we all know that no one is perfect. Yet, we often don’t give ourselves the break that we give others.  The next time you feel like you “messed up,” imagine what you would say to a friend and then say it to yourself.

Have Faith.  “It ain’t over ’til the _____.”  I once heard a quote that said if everything hasn’t worked itself out, then it isn’t over.  I agree.  You never know why whatever happened did.  Maybe you “messed up” an interview because subconsciously you didn’t really want it.  Or maybe you loss one job or relationship only to find a better one to come along later.  You never know what will happen or why it happens and it’s better that way.  Have faith that things happen for a reason, you may just not know what that is yet.

So the next time you are faced with a blunder, don’t hide from it, cover it up or pretend it doesn’t exist.  Instead, look it right in the face and say thank you because you never know what lessons it has in store for you.

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