Tag: grateful

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 20 – WHO IS IT?

This is one of the big ones. Who are you grateful for in your life? In any gratitude practice I think this one is included. I am sure at some point in time we have thought about how grateful we are for certain people in our life. Here are two challenging ideas I hope you take action on. First, spend a focused few minutes and think of who you are grateful for. Write their names down. Next, ask yourself how you could express this feeling of gratitude? You could tell them in person, a phone call, an email or the good old greeting card. You could even post on their social media.

Great friends are certainly people to be grateful for. Above is a picture of people who used to come to a bar I worked at. Many are still good friends. I am grateful to have met them all. That is the fun thing about meeting people. Each person, in some way or another, brings something to your life to be grateful for. Even some of the worst people can leave you grateful for the example of what you do not want in your life and grateful for all of those who are not like them. Most people, however, give you something positive to be grateful for. It could be humor, being a great listener or a million other traits.

Family is another group of people to be grateful for. Above is a picture of my mother and I braving what turned out to be a terrible flood. We also had been enjoying the Wisconsin State Fair. Walking through the fair with my mother is one of my favorite things that I look forward to all year. We go on discovery walks and try many new foods and just have a lot of fun. Could not be more grateful for that if I tried.

To of course having someone that loves you even on your bad days. This woman has changed my life more than any other person I know. A year and a half from now I guess she will also be family! Having that rock of love is one of the most powerful things that you can have in your life. Sharing adventures as well as the daily grind together. It makes the sorrows less and multiplies the joy.

As you can see, there are so many people to be grateful for in your life. Really, each person offers you that little bit to be grateful for. We touched on it in the friendship paragraph, but you can think of anyone and everyone and gratitude could be given. The great employee who served you an iced coffee so you would have energy to write. (Thank you Anthony) The lady who checked you out at the market. The employee at the power company you may never meet, but who worked in dangerous conditions to keep your power on and the milk from spoiling. Speaking of milk, how about being grateful for the dairy farmer? How about being grateful for the cow?

There are an endless list of people you can be grateful for. I have shared just a few of mine and gave you some thoughts on more. How about you? Who are you grateful for in your life?

30 DAY GRATITUDE JOURNEY DAY 19 – TOUCH

We are on day 19 of our 30 day gratitude journey. Not only does this mean we are roughly 2/3 of our way through, but it also happens to be my favorite number. We are looking at what touch we are grateful for today. Another one of those area that we do not often stop and think about it. If we lost our sense of touch, can you imagine how much different our life would be? Have you sat down and thought about what touch you were grateful for? I can’t say I have. Now I will and I hope you will join me.

One of the things that comes to mind is the touch of a soft blanket on your skin. Make that a warm, soft blanket. We are experiencing high winds and are soon expected to have snow join along with that. Being able to crawl under a warm, soft blanket will feel amazing. Can you image that feeling?

Not to use this as a grateful item two posts in a row, but I would be dishonest if I didn’t. My favorite touch is a hug from my lovely lady. Not only does she give some of the best hugs, but it shows that she cares. That touch conveys so much. Reassurance, love, compassion and healing. All of that in one hug. Can you think of a favorite touch?

30 DAY GRATITUDE JOURNEY DAY 18 – ART!

When I first stopped to think of what piece of art that I was grateful for I drew a blank. Sure, there are paintings and sculptures I enjoy, but nothing really stood out for me. This is what makes this 30 day journey so powerful. We are looking at areas in our life that we may not take the time to think about. For me, art is one of those. I enjoy art, but it is not very often that I sit down and ask myself, “Neil, what piece of art are you grateful for?” Did that today though.

As I sat thinking of the answer, I realized what a broad term ‘art’ is. I was busy thinking of paintings and sculptures. Art is far more than that. I good cup of coffee can be a work of art. If you have ever had a bad cup of coffee you can really appreciate this. As an author, I should have known that books are works of art as well. Poems, they are works of art. Music is one of my favorite art forms. If it were not for that my early morning commute and workouts would be far different. As I mentioned last post, the wonderful baked creations my lady creates are works of art. The creativity and effort that goes into them is truly amazing!

After much thought, this is my favorite work of art. It is a living work of art. The woman I love. When you stop and think about it, each one of us is a living work of art. We are formed from different creative influences. It is a work of art that is every evolving. Just like much art, some may find beautiful what some do not. It does not make the art any less valuable. What is your favorite piece of art? Are you working to improve the work of art that is you?

30 DAY GRATITUDE JOURNEY DAY 17 – KNOWLEDGE

Welcome to day 17 of our 30 day gratitude journey. Today is a tricky one for me. What knowledge am I grateful for? Being a lifelong learner, it can be hard to pick just one. Lucky for us the question is not worded that way. When it comes to knowledge, we all are proficient in some area. What is your area? Is that the knowledge you are most grateful for?

One of the bits of knowledge that I think is vital in this day and age is the ability to read. With this information, you can learn anything else you desire. The internet, combined with YouTube can teach us almost anything we desire to know. All that is required is the ability to read and a little bit of time. I value the knowledge of interpersonal relations. Despite the world becoming more and more ‘virtual’, the ability to develop repour with other humans is a priceless skill. Whether that connection happens online or virtual, the skills are very similar.

Here is yet another way in which to look at this situation. You do not have to possess the knowledge for which you are grateful. I am very grateful for all of the medical knowledge that has come out and continues to develop. Can you picture going to a dentist who only had knowledge from 100 years ago? It is frightening enough to picture going to the dentist as it is. How about fixing computers? Mine is painfully slow right now. I do wish I knew more in this field, but I am grateful for those who do. Same with mechanics. Looking at the amazing cakes my lady creates. That is knowledge that I will never possess.

To me, the more knowledge you have the more valuable you can be. Not only to the world at large, but to yourself as well. Think of all you can learn and all you can become? I think we could all agree that obtaining this knowledge is easier today than at anytime in history!

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 16 – YOUR BODY!

This is such a great question. I am glad it comes on a Monday as well. Both of these things can be extremely tough for most of us. Self-image is a challenging thing in this day and age. We see AI and photoshopped photos of celebrities and ask ourselves why we do not look like that. Americans alone spend 16.7 Billion, yes that is with a ‘B’, on cosmetic plastic surgery. Negative self-image is truly a big problem. It is not just one gender either. Men see the muscle bound movie stars that women go head over heals for and wonder if there is any hope for their ‘dad bod’. Even fake eyelashes was a 2 billion dollar global market in 2024! Just for eyelashes.

In addition to saving billions of dollars every year, what else could developing a more positive self-image get us? Confidence for one. When you are confident in who you are, you present yourself in a much better fashion. You also tend to be less judgmental of others. How do we escape this societal programing? We can start with gratitude for something on our body. We give so much attention, so the numbers would indicate, on what we do not like, that we owe it to ourselves to pick something we do like. You might be working on getting that beach body, but do you have sparkling eyes? How about a welcoming smile? There is something that is beautiful about each and every one of us. We should start by expressing gratitude for that. If we do so often enough, it may have us changing our opinion about the person in the mirror.

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 15 – SEASON

If you know me personally, or follow this blog for any length of time, you may guess that my answer here would be summer. I do love that season and the warmth and sunshine that comes with it. Certainly no denying that. I would like to offer gratitude for the upcoming season today. That season being spring. Where I live, it seems that winter lasts about 9 months of the year. It is also listed as the 8th gloomiest city in the nation. For someone who loves sunshine as much as I do, that can be hard to take. That is why spring is so inspiring. Even if you are a fan of winter, by this time most of us have had enough. Enough of the shoveling and driving through snow. Enough of the grey sky and dead looking trees.

Spring, often starts with the same sort of weather, but in the back of our minds there is hope. When that snow comes we think to ourselves, “At least it will not last that long.” We look for buds on trees and other signs that old man winter is on his way out. We are looking for the sky of grey to become one of a resplendent blue. We hope the ray of sunshine will not only warm the air, but our hearts as well. So I am grateful for the coming of spring, which will arrive here in less than a week.

The talk of spring brings attention to other seasons that we should be grateful for as well. How about the season of growth in our own life? Just like the season of spring with its up and down weather including rain and sun mixed with clouds, our own growth is the same. A season of growth causes us to learn lessons, not always in a comfortable way. We must often let go of things to make room for something better. We do so because we believe something better will take its place. That is a season of hope. In a world that can often be dark, we must know that a better time is coming. A time when there will be more love for our neighbors and less division. We must hold on to that hope. A season of hope can help us make it through many dark times. That is truly a season to be grateful for.

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 14 – SIGHT

Today’s gratitude post was one that made me stop and think. It is a powerful one at that. We have many sights that we view daily. How often do we stop and appreciate them? There are certainly ones that we lament about. Take my current example. I am sitting in a Starbucks right next to my day job writing this blog. Outside it is snowing like crazy. It is  a little more than a week away from the first day of spring and we should be having temperatures more closer to that season. The trees still look dead and it is rather gloomy. Those things stand out to me. Can you guess how focusing on them has me feeling? I can tell you that it is less than inspiring.

When I first read that today we would be talking about what sights we were grateful for, I must confess to having a hard time with this. That will tell you what a great opportunity this is. Apparently, I do not spend enough time focusing on all of the good things that I lay my eyes on in a day. Take the picture above. It is my current situation. I have a laptop to write on, access to the internet to publish it so I can chat with all of the wonderful members of this community around the globe. Not to mention the delicious hot cup of coffee just waiting for me to take a sip! There are a few sights that many of us take for granted that instead we should be using as a moment of gratitude every day! Let us take a look at a few of those.

The sight I am always most grateful for is this beautiful lady right here. My love, Margie. Not only is she lovely, she loves me! Her smile, especially if I have anything to do with it, is the most beautiful sight to me. It means that I am living up to my standard of being a good man and taking care of my lady. How about the sight of your front door? When you come home do you think about everything that is wrong with your house or are you grateful that you have a roof over your head? The amount of homeless people is not only heartbreaking, but is growing. In an age where the cost of living keeps increasing, having a place to come home to is definitely something to be grateful for. How about the dinner or breakfast you are about to eat? How many people go hungry? Sure it might not be the dish that you want, but you can afford something. These things you might be grateful for but how often do you express that gratitude? Even just to yourself? We are all guilty of taking it a little bit for granted.

When we stop to express gratitude for things like a loving spouse, a place to come home to and food to keep us going we feel more abundant and full of good fortune. It is my belief that something more happens. I believe that being grateful for that spouse will help increase the love between you two. I believe that being grateful to have a place to come home to will make it feel more peaceful, even if it is a little chaotic. I believe having gratitude for whatever meal you are about to eat will make it taste just that little bit better. Do not take my word for it. Try expressing, and feeling, gratitude for these things in your own life. Before you walk in the door at the end of a hard day, say, “I sure am grateful to have someplace to come home to.” When you see your spouse say to yourself, or to them, “I am really grateful for you even if we occasionally drive each other crazy.” Pause before that first bite and express gratitude for being able to enjoy a meal when many do not have that pleasure. Try doing this for a week and see how it feels.

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 13 – ABILITY!

This is a great time to stop and be grateful for our abilities. Many are quick to lament the ability they wish they had but do not. How many stop to be grateful for the ones they do have? Sometimes we can just assume everyone can do what we do. When we take the time to be grateful for the gifts and abilities we have, I think we are more inclined to share them in such a way it benefits all concerned. Let me share what comes to mind for me.

The ability I am most grateful for would have to be my ability to communicate. It not only allows me to write on this site and publish 3 books, but it is even more important in my personal life. When I was a bartender, one of the reasons I was so in demand was my ability to communicate with a wide cross section of people. The greatest benefit to communicating is in my personal relationships. Being able to convey what I am thinking or feeling in the right way really helps my relationships grow. I am also comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. It took me a while to understand how rare this is. The ability to be empathetic goes hand in hand with the ability to communicate. My friend Kurt writes a lot about empathy in his daily thoughts online. The ability to put yourself ‘in someone else’s shoes’ is such a gift. As the world becomes more divided, it is also a valuable skill as well.

This only scratches the surface. The ability to read, which is something many of us take for granted. That ability alone will allow us to learn any other skill we would like to. How about the ability to truly listen? That is a rare gift these days as well. The ability to develop personal rapport in an online world? That can get you very far. If you have that one, you certainly have a gift to be grateful for. Which one of your abilities are you most grateful for? Let us know in the comments!

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 12 – TEXTURE!

This is one of the things in this challenge I must confess to not having thought about before reading it. Considering that both my lovely lady and I are big texture people, you would think that I would. I have thought about what textures I like and do not, but have you ever stopped and thought about being grateful for a texture? It would be my guess most of us would have to answer that last question in the negative. Let us take a look at some of the textures I am grateful for and you can share yours with me.

Knowing where my priorities are, you can guess my first answer. I love the feel of wrapping my arms around my beautiful lady when we give each other a hug. I love the feeling of her hand in mine and her lips on mine. I also love the feeling of a nice soft blanket when you lay in bed. The texture of those boba balls that you can put on top of your frozen yogurt or drink in tea are fun when they explode as you eat them. A nice creamy ice cream cone is good too! The texture of the earth when you walk without shoes feels good. The feeling of sand between your toes when you are on vacation. Between other areas…not so much.

As you can see, there are so many textures to be grateful for. In and out of the culinary world. If everything felt the same, what a boring world we would live in. What are some of your favorite textures? Which ones could you be grateful for? It is an interesting question to ponder.

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE DAY 11 – HOLIDAYS!

On day 11 of this 30 day gratitude journey we are taking a look at holidays. Many people stress over holidays. Some people spend on holidays. You can look forward to a day off on a holiday. In these crazy times, some people even argue over holidays. Sure, we celebrate them, but have you ever stop and thought, “What holiday am I truly grateful for?” ? For me, there are several to mention. Let us get started with today’s conversation.

For the record, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Not only do you not have to worry about buying gifts for anyone, but there is great food and the whole focus should be on what we have to be grateful for. A bonus fact is that this very site was started on Thanksgiving day in 2012. After briefing dying in 2022, I have learned that every day we are here is a holiday. Yes, this may sound cliche coming after a brief flirtation with my expiration date, but it certainly gives you a new perspective. It has birthdays take on a whole new meaning. Each year that we have lived should be something we are grateful for.

Another thing holidays do is allow us to take a peak into other cultures. It is so fun to me to learn about things they celebrate in different parts of the world. Learning how they celebrate and why is an experience I am grateful for. Margie bought me a calendar that shows what is celebrated on each day. That is fun because it gives us reason to celebrate something new everyday. Much like this 30 day journey, it also reminds us of things we may have forgotten or taken advantage of. As I am writing this, it is national snack day. When you read this, it will be national nap day. That is not only my initials, but a nap goes well right after a snack. What holidays are you grateful for? What are your favorite way to celebrate?