Day 3 of our gratitude celebration. We have had some fun so far. If you would like to go back and read the first 2 days, you are certainly welcome to do so. If you would rather just start from today, that is cool too. Gratitude is great whenever you put it into your life. The object of this 30 day dive into the world of gratitude is to get you to think of, and notice for the first time perhaps, things in your life that you have to be grateful for. After 30 days, you will find yourself developing a new mindset of gratitude. The effect this will have in your life is nothing short of magic. Do not take my word for it. That is what these 30 days are all about. Putting this to the test.
Today’s question is what color are we grateful for. Color plays such an important role in our life. We naturally gravitate towards some colors and there are others that do not enthuse us at all. Personally, I am not a fan of beige, taupe or anything in that color scheme. It tends to bore me and have me feeling bland and unexcited. There are other people who love it. The only time this becomes much of a problem is when those two people live under the same roof!
As far as what colors I am grateful for, I would pick a combo that is my favorite. I love turquoise and yellow together. It makes me think of all things tropical. Those two colors can have me thinking of vacation even in the dead of winter. Lucky for me, my lovely lady does not object to these colors, or that combination. We had a great experience in the Bahamas. Their flag incorporates these colors. Upon reflection, it occurred to me that these were also the colors of my elementary school. Not sure if that has some sort of subconscious influence on the matter.
How about you? Are there colors that make you happy when you see them? Are there colors you tend to avoid? Are they different for clothes verses cars? Have your choices changed throughout the years? I can’t wait to hear what everyone has to say!
To catch you up to date, we are doing a month of gratitude. Today is day 2. Feel free to go back and read yesterday’s post as well. We love to hear your answers in the comments that follow today’s post.
Ah technology. Many people curse this, but few stop and appreciate all we have to be thankful for. Personally, I have many. We will start with a popular one – cell phones. Yes, they have their drawbacks, but think of all they bring us. I can stay in contact with my lovely lady. That helps me worry less. You can retrieve information at the drop of a hat. It reduces the amount of graffiti on rest room stalls.
I also love the technology in my new car. I am not a fan of the cold weather. My new car allows me to start the car from my cell phone! By the time I get in, the heated seats and steering wheel are already warm. Two more technology items I am grateful for! They make winter so much more!
How about you? What technology are you especially grateful for? There are so many to choose from! I would love to hear what you think!
That is a picture of me. It is probably what I looked like when I was informed that the vacation I had planned for my lovely lady’s birthday would be canceled. Six months I had managed to keep it a secret. There were days of work I scheduled off. We were mere weeks from takeoff and our Jamaican vacation was canceled. It was a tragic once in a lifetime hurricane that devastated the island. Regretfully, our hotel was unable to open at the time they had anticipated. Obviously, our dismay was nothing compared to what the people were dealing with, and are still dealing with, on the island. Still, we were quite dismayed not to be able to escape the brutal Wisconsin winter, if only for a few days.
Looking at the temperature in my hometown above (in Fahrenheit) one can see it would be wonderful to get away. One of those situations where you might ask, “Where is the upside in all of this?” First of all, the reason our trip was canceled is a great reminder of what we have to be thankful for. Yes, it is beyond cold and snowy here, but we have power and our houses have not been blown away from a 200 mph hurricane. The fact the hotel could not open reminds us of how months later the island continues to struggle. On top of that, on the day we were supposed to be leaving Margie came down with an illness. She had it for quite some time. It would have been the whole time we were scheduled to be on vacation. Just a few days ago, I also came down with something. If there is anything worse than your vacation being canceled, it is going and being sick the entire time. The trip being called off saved us from that happening.
It can be hard to see that what appears to be something negative in life is actually setting you up for something better. Have you ever had a major setback while pursuing a goal? My guess is that if you are reading a website like this, you have. It gives you a chance to refocus and gain additional skills that will make the goal even more rewarding when you do reach there. The additional time you have to wait will make achieving the goal that much sweeter. Sure, nobody likes to think this way when it is happening to them, but that does not change it from being true. If you do manage to change your mindset from “Why me?” to one of, “What positive thing can I gain from this setback?” Life is not only a lot less stressful, but becomes something to always look forward to.
As a side note, the delay in taking a trip with my love has allowed us to save more and hopefully spend a few more days on our getaway. Something we could not have done without the delay. It also allows me a little more time to work on my beach body which has been missing in action for quite some time. There are always silver linings to the dark clouds of life. We may just have to look a little harder for them.
Here we are at another Monday again. Those can be tough for many of us. Returning to the work grind. Perhaps the weather is a little difficult to navigate? You foolishly ask yourself, “How could it get any worse?” Enter a sinus infection. That is what I am dealing with today. Have been for the last couple of days. Face hurts, nose feels like a faucet someone forgot to turn off. Not the best of times. In the face of this, how can you be grateful? Here is how finding things to be grateful for and living a gratitude lifestyle differ.
If I were just looking for something to be grateful for, it might be a little difficult at the moment. It still could be done. After all, I was able to seek medical attention, get medicine and return to a job that I have. Those are three things to be grateful for right there. Yes, I have to go to work, but in the same breath, I have a work to go to. Getting back to the sinus infection. It does come with a host of unpleasant side-effects. It makes just going through a regular day feel like running a marathon at times. Same can be said when you have the flu or a bad head cold. It is not going to kill you, but you feel like you are walking in quick sand most of the time. How can you be grateful for something like that? By appreciating the contrast to a regular working day that it gives you. Suddenly the thought of a regular Monday sounds a lot better. You think to yourself, “If only I didn’t have this illness, my day would be a lot smoother.” The irony is that when we are busy lamenting a Monday, we never say to ourselves, “At least I am not sick.”
Health becomes something we take for granted most of the time. It is only when our health starts to suffer that we seem to appreciate our regular good health. In that way, illness is the best kick in the butt to remind us that our health is something we should be thankful for each and every day. We do, when it begins to return we are so grateful to be rid of whatever ailment we were suffering from. That lasts a few days until once again we just assume that being healthy is the norm and not something to be grateful for. As much as I am not enjoying this sinus infection, I am grateful for the reminder to appreciate the health that I normally take for granted as part of my normal day. How about you? Do you only appreciate your health when you do not have it? Have you ever viewed an illness as a great reminder to appreciate that health? Have you ever been grateful for that reminder? It can make getting through it a little easier.
Last post we talked about my introduction to the power of gratitude. In a way it was also my introduction to the world of self-improvement. That has went on to shape the path of my life for the last 25+ years. If you did not read our last conversation, might I suggest you give it a look. In a nutshell, I began using gratitude to prove that it made no difference in your life. By the end of 30 days, I was encouraging all of my friends and family to use it too. Quite the turnaround for someone who began with a very cynical attitude. After I was so excited and convinced that gratitude can change your life, the universe seemed to say, “Let us see how committed you are to this.” The world often works this way. It will test you to see how serious you are about your journey. In this case, after having this crash course in gratitude, I literally crashed. A young man stopped in the middle of an intersection and I ended up going through my windshield.
Most people would think this would be a situation that would deter someone from feeling grateful. Certainly it is not an experience that I would recommend. Let me tell you what I did learn about myself. I am not a very good friend to me most of the time. What on earth does that mean? It means that my inner conversation had been one of discouragement and negative sarcasm. That is the majority of what we run into in the world today. We seldom pay attention to our inner dialogue. It seems to be a running conversation that occurs in our head unfettered. Let me assure you when you wake up in a hospital bed after headbutting the windshield of a 2000 Jeep, you have plenty of time to pay attention to what you are saying to yourself. Mine wasn’t so good…to begin with. I recall waking up and thinking, “This sucks.” There may have been a few more colorful words thrown in, but you get the idea. My car was totaled. I was going to miss my first day of work in 9 years. None of it was good, or so I thought.
Just as I was swimming in a sea of self-pity, something, or should I say someone, changed all that. A nurse came in and said those five magic words. “Would you like some coffee?” Sadly, it wasn’t as much as these nurses above had. In fact, it was rather awful coffee in a little Styrofoam cup. It was, however, coffee. I recall saying to myself, “At least I have a cup of coffee.” Then all of that gratitude I had been practicing came back. I thought if it can work when life is sunshine and rainbows, let us see if it will work now. I started contemplating what I could be grateful for. I did have insurance, even if the young man who caused the accident did not. I was alive to be having this conversation with myself. There was family on the way to help me. Suddenly the outlook did not seem as gloomy. There was potential, if nothing else.
That is when I learned a very valuable lesson. The conversation we have with ourself has a great impact on our emotional condition. As a matter of fact, I would say it determines our emotional condition. Also discovered in that moment was the fact that the conversation we have with ourselves can be controlled. We are not at the whim of that inner voice, or voices depending on the individual. No, we have a say in how we talk to ourself. We can be our best friend cheering ourselves on, or we can be our worst enemy putting ourselves down. Either way, the impact is just as great on the rest of our life.
One other thing that happened in that moment, that I may not have wrapped my head around until much later was the realization that two opposing views can be true. In fact, two opposing worlds can be true. We have all heard the quandary over whether the glass is half full or half empty. Both can be true at the same time. When you are grateful, you are seeing the glass as half full. Neither view changes the actual state of the liquid in the glass, it only changes how you feel observing it. What is the big deal about that? How you feel is your life. If you are a person who finds every reason to complain and you win a million dollars, you will just be a millionaire who likes to complain. That is why taking control of the inner conversation is so important. It determines the quality of your life. The best way to make sure that conversation is a good one is by developing an attitude of gratitude.
No matter what your situation in life, there are always trying time. With the price of everything going up, many of us live paycheck to paycheck. Another post about wealth being a mindset does nothing to pay for the loaf of bread you would want to buy. Keeping this in mind, there is a way to make the journey for a better life a lot more enjoyable and to keep from feeling like you are struggling. Does that make a difference? I believe it does. Having the mental fortitude to press on when it feels as though life is pressing you down makes a big difference.
Even more annoying than wealth being a mindset thing is people talking about feeling grateful when you are struggling. How can you feel grateful when you are working just to survive. I get that. The truth is, that is when gratitude has its biggest payoff. It can be hard to begin a journey of gratitude, but once you do it can change your life. That may sound like hype, but I am here to tell you that I personally know it to be true. Before I share how gratitude changed my life, it is worth mentioning that gratitude, unlike money, increases the more you give it. When you begin to focus on what you have to be grateful for in your life, you will find that you notice more and more things to be grateful for that you might have missed.
Here is my brief story of how gratitude literally changed my life. I was 23 years old when I started my day job. For reference, I am now 50. A lady who was a customer there taught journaling classes. She was trying to convince me on the power of gratitude and keeping a gratitude journal. To prove to her it didn’t work, I agreed to try it for 30 days. Starting something to prove it doesn’t work is the least motivated you can be. I made sure to follow her directions to the letter just so she could not tell me I did it wrong. After a week, I noticed my mood lifted…a little. After two weeks, I found myself noticing things in my life that I had taken for granted. After three weeks, I realized how amazing a lot of the people in my life were, how lucky I was despite my challenges. When the month was over, I found myself encouraging others to keep a journal. That was a far cry from proving it didn’t work. Shortly after the month was over, my car was totaled in an accident that saw me go through the windshield of my car. Less than ideal. The complete story is in my first book, A Happy Life for Busy People.
Just as I was learning this valuable new skill, life chose to test me in the most extreme way. Instead of deterring me, it actually proved the power of gratitude even more. It changed one of the most important conversations I had in my life. One that I had been ignoring for far too long, but one that had the biggest impact on my life. That will be a story for tomorrow’s post.
This is a very important point to ponder. It can be so easy to ride the waves of negative emotions, but that just leads to am ocean of despair and depression. That is not to say you should not validate your emotions. Like the quote above says, “feel your feelings” To that i would add to look for the lessons and what you can learn from them. Then, take a walk outside. You will be greeted with all kinds of beautiful reminders.
A change in mindset is required. The payoff is even with all of the challenges, you will see, and more importantly feel, life is a miracle instead of a job. Walking in nature helps this. You see the beauty in the trees, the birds and other animals we share this planet with. I love seeing elderly couples out waking together. It not only gives you hope of lasting love, but let’s you know it is never too late to fall in love.
Miracles surround us everyday. Granted it can be hard to see them when we find ourselves down and out emotionally. That is when it is the most important to do. One way to accomplish this is to find as many things to be grateful for as you walk. It could be the fact that you can walk. Maybe not as well as you used to, but you still can. How about the fact we now have sidewalks and stop lights? Quite different in the 1800’s. Most parks have rest rooms available. If not, there are usually businesses in near proximity.
The world is full of miracles. Use the power of gratitude to unlock them. When you are feeling down, or even if you are not, take time to walk about, look up and notice them all.
It can be hard to deal with some challenging people. Maybe they are always negative and complaining. Maybe they are impatient or judgemental? One way to look at the situation is ask yourself, “What can this person teach me?” These answers can range from ‘how to be patient’ to ‘what not to be like as a human’. Either way, every negative person in our life brings us a gift in the form of a teaching. We should not miss the gift just because we do not like the wrapping paper.
We will end this on a positive note. Think about how grateful you are for the people who bring light and medicine to your life. This can be someone who always listens. It can be someone who always brings a smile. There are people who just make us feel better by their presence.
On the journey to self-improvement there are many tricky obstacles. One of the toughest is that we share the planet with people who have no intent, or desire to improve themselves. There are those who feel the need to treat others poorly. I have seem a man berate a coffee shop employee because he coffee was 5 degrees too hot. Not only was it almost impossible to tell that exactly, he could have waited a few seconds and it would have cooled down. That is enough to make someone watching that behavior upset. A more constructive approach is to let it remind us of how important our kindness and compassion to retail employees is and how much it is appreciated.
There are those who have no regard or care for their health. This is especially hard to watch if it is someone we care about. If these people persist in neglecting their health and lifestyle, it will remind us how impactful those two things have in our own life.
To me, one of the most frustrating is watching those individuals who make it their life mission to live in a world of self-created drama and terrible decisions. Lack of accountability and any actions towards improving their life can drive you crazy to watch, and certainly to listen to. What every episode can remind us of is how important working on ourselves and our life is.
All of these people can be a challenge, but they can also be a great reminder. We should be grateful when the universe shows us how important kindness, compassion and self-improvement are. These fine folks can be just what we need in our life to motivate us to take the next leap in our own development. Be grateful for the lesson they bring.
On New Year’s Eve, Margie and I had the pleasure of meeting some friends out. Normally, I am all about staying home, but we decided to go out as it was close to our home and plenty of our friends would be there. While there, I asked everyone a question we talked about a few posts ago. That question was, “What in the last year are you most grateful for?” It is a new tradition I have been wanting to start. Coupling the act of making resolutions for self-improvement with gratitude for many of the good things that have already happened.
One of the first people I asked was a friend of ours that is due to be married in 2027. As expected when asked what he was most grateful for in the past year, he pointed to his bride to be. That would have been a touching story in its own right, but when he added why, it drove home a point that we often discuss on this site. The gentleman had worked in law enforcement and was shot. Soon as he was healing from that, he had a rupture in his intestines. This landed him in the hospital for quite some time. As you can imagine, one happening right after the other was hard to take. His lady made sure to be by his side every day. In addition to working full-time, and taking care of the house and looking after his dog, she stayed with him at the hospital often foregoing sleep.
As terrible as this situation was, it proved to him that this lady’s love was true and strong. Something that could only have been displayed in such trying times. When someone tells you that they will love you through anything, that is wonderful to hear. When they show you that they will, that is something different entirely. Nobody wants to have tragedy thrust upon them. Certainly, nobody want to be in the hospital for a long period of time. It is through situations like this, we are shown the true depths of others love for us. That is something to be grateful for.
When reflecting on what we are most grateful for, it can seem contrary to think of our hardships, but as you can see, they often bring the greatest blessings. I heard a saying that many people never open their greatest gifts because they do not like the wrapping paper. In this case, discovering that someone’s love for you is deep and true was wrapped in medical emergency that included lots of pain and a long time of healing. Discovering a gift in that is a skill and an art that many of us could stand to develop more of. When thinking about what we are most grateful for in our life, maybe we should ponder our challenges as well as our triumphs.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 