Daily Positive Thought Project- Get Your Gratitude Working
It is a natural feeling to let the focus of our thoughts run toward the negative in our lives and the world around us. We feel we have been wronged, we are suffering and that seems the most important thing in the world. What can you do? Practice gratitude.
https://youtu.be/PjAFEn6jEs8
When you list the things you are grateful for your mindset immediately shifts into an area of thought that is much more positive. There is always something to be grateful for, it can be your family, your car, your friends, your mind, the fact that you can see, hear, feel, and are alive to have this human experience are all things most of us can be grateful for.
It doesn’t matter what has been bothering you. Loss of a relationship didn’t get the job you wanted, lost a contest, had a bad day at work or school. Rather than spending your focus on that gratitude allows you to move your thought and awareness to what you do have rather than what you don’t.
Take a moment right now and write down three to five things that you are grateful for today. Hold a feeling of gratitude for each thing in your mind. It will switch your focus to positive and open the door for more of that and less of the suffering.
In life, we are generally just about as happy as we decide we want to be.
Daily Positive Thought: What are YOU grateful for?
Sometimes in life, things don’t go the way we think they should and it is easy to get discouraged or down at these moments. A relationship ends, a loved one passes, a job is lost, you are having a physical ailment, or even much more minor problems come into our focus and make us angry, fearful, anxious and our attitudes and feelings reflect on this. This is the energy we are bringing into our consciousness.
A human mind is a powerful tool that creates thoughts and can help us to solve complex problems. Our thoughts push us in a direction of achievement and if we are conscious we can control and direct this tool in a certain direction. One of the facts about the human mind is that we can only entertain one thought at a time. That is it. Our thoughts can come fast and furious but they arrive in our consciousness one at a time. They bring with them a corresponding set of emotions and this all combines to create our energy.
This is where thoughts of gratitude can bring their true power to you. When you are angry, fearful, or just worried. Take a moment and list the things in your life you are grateful for. First, it is easy to take things for granted, even great things. To spend a moment to focus on the positive things we do have is important. When your thoughts are focused on gratitude, your corresponding sets of emotions will be positive. That will lead to words and actions that are positive as well. All stemming from simple thoughts of gratitude.
Take a moment right now to honestly look at your life and make a quick list of the three things you are most grateful for. Keep these things in your mind and when you are feeling overwhelmed, angry, frustrated or fearful, take a moment and think of them. Really think of them. Spend your time with them in your mind. Think about what is good and your mood, perspective and attitude will change.
Being conscious of our gratitude also opens our mind up to receive more good things. Give it an honest, conscious try and see what happens to your mood. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
What are three things you are grateful for right now??????
Quick list to help you find gratitude:
community, relationships, love, kindness, friends, family, earth, sun, health, job, money in your pocket, this moment, positive memories, special moments, rest, play, action, thoughts, acitivity, intelligence, learning, healing, experience, joyful times, kindness, food to eat, safety of being, freedom, your mind……….
This is the end of the Super Gratitude Project on my website, it has been 31 days of nonstop gratitude. I have looked for things to be grateful about and fortunately it hasn’t been all that hard. For the final day I decided to express my gratitude for the entire year and all of the people I met. They changed my life!
Not the experience I expected
If you had told me a year ago that much of the following year would be spent helping to organize and promote a summer camp, I would have thought you were on drugs or crazy or both. Yet here I am after a summer of learning at the Maine Golf and Tennis Academy. Here is what I am grateful for in this experience.
First for the wide range of experiences I was able to have, from hiring people and crafting a staff I hoped would be great, to seeing that staff come into existence and watching them grow, struggle and ultimately succeed by any form of measurement. There were also other organizational tasks I did not like. There was a required meeting every morning at 7:15. I am grateful I will never have to attend one again. But overall the experience in helping to run the camp was a great learning experience.
The most important thing I am grateful for though, it all of the great people that have entered my life this year. I have become friends with people from England, Australia, Ireland, and even Hungary. It was a true blessing to work with and build relationships with such great people. Each has contributed to my understanding of life and other people and for that I am truly grateful. Even though they are all gone home now, back to work, college and their “normal” lives, I think of them often. I think many would be surprised of the impact they had on me, even if they were there for a short time.
Future is so Bright
I have to be grateful for this year because of what it has given me for the future. I have developed an almost wanderlust to travel to different places in the country and across the world. One of my friends at camp told me that I should, move to Germany and live there for a year. Even though I don’t think I am ready for that yet, I now see it as an actual possibility in my life. I owe this new vision of what life can be to all of the people I met this year. I can only hope that the next year is filled with as many interesting characters.
I am truly blessed with friendship and experience and am grateful for it.
It is Day 30 of the Super Gratitude Challenge which means, only one more day to go. Today I am going write about how grateful I am for the experience of having a great family. Not everything in my life was perfect but there are a lot of things to be grateful for and I want to share just a few.
My Grandparents
I was fortunate to have a relationship with all of my grandparents, which was unique and I treasure. I also had the great good fortune of knowing all but one of my great grandparents as well. This extended family connection allowed me to be spoiled and feel like I was the center of a lot of people’s lives.
There were so many things that I was taught by these people, from how to behave myself and be polite when company came to the value of honesty and doing what you say. The greatest gift that each of them gave me in a different way was to tell me that to them, I was special and had the potential to do about anything. One by one, they passed away over the years and are all gone now, but their lessons live on in my heart and will for my life.
The Parents
Like most people in adulthood, we look at our parents with a knowing understanding. They were never going to be perfect, and my parents weren’t. But they did give me a safe and happy childhood. I was never abused, or neglected and felt again like my life mattered significantly to them. It still does today.
My father was a school teacher and coach and shared a love of sports with me and my siblings that still exists today. It is a way that we can relate to each other. My mother is a minister and she is still preaching every Sunday. Even though I don’t agree with her religious beliefs, she doesn’t push them on me. She is a thinker and writes and well, so do I. I got great gifts from each of them.
Sibling Appreciation
Well these people are the ones who have shared the common experience of growing up. There aren’t many people who really know what that means, but they each do.
All relationships are formed over a common experience, school, work, a hobby or your family life and siblings are the ones who really know who you are. I am grateful for the experiences of childhood, even though they involved a lot of arguing and many disagreements, there were a lot of shared moments of special times that even today are fondly remembered. I was one of four and that in itself made me part of a unique group. All of my family have first names that begin with the letter J.
So there it is, on Day 30 of this gratitude challenge I am thankful for all of my family members, those who have passed on and those that are still around.
I have been fortunate enough to fall into this strange little world and it has truly been a wonderful rabbit hole experience. There are thousands of people out there writing their thoughts, hoping to connect with others in a more meaningful way. These connections have helped me become a more comprehensive thinker and a more dynamic writer. There is no questioning that this experience has helped form my personal growth.
No Idea What I am Doing
It was several years ago that I first realized that there was a community of people who spent their time writing and diligently posting on their blogs each day. Providing know how thoughts and even motivation to the general population at large. I remember feeling like Alice in Wonderland, stepping into a new world I didn’t know existed. I had written on my website for a time, but really just did it for me, to express my feelings and thoughts. Who else would want to hear them? It must have been time to share.
The First Blogger got me Hooked
I had stumbled into this world because I installed Zemanta onto my site. It’s a program that makes adding articles from other people to the end of your blog easy. I actually got a note from one of the people I had pinged back. When I looked at their site, there was a green little dinosaur gravatar I couldn’t help clicking on. It was called Rarasaur and it was one of the best blogs I ever saw. It was there I left my first tentative comment and was blown away that I got a thoughtful response. It was awesome and started me searching deeper into the world of blogs.
Mysteries Abound
One of my most naive thoughts was the everyone who blogged seemed to have developed interesting monikers and identities that symbolized who they were and what they meant. It was too late for me at that point, I had already built my site years before. My name was no mystery, and I often wondered if I should start over with a secret identity. I often wonder about the lives of the bloggers I read. Do they have problems like me? How often does writer’s block affect them? What are they grateful for? What motivates them?
Bloggers I Love to Read
There really are so many that to make a list would short change somebody but I am going to list five excluding Rara because she clearly is a favorite and should be read. Many of these people I first read because they guest posted on her blog.
Mr. Tookles
This blogger from Holland is one of my favorite people in the world. She is a fantastic word artist and says more using fewer words than I could imagine possible. We share a love of bacon and have a mutual hope that life is going to show us what we are supposed to do. Don’t mess with her though, because she will hit you on the head with a frying pan. (her threat) Seriously, funny, intelligent and so very creative, she is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Follow her and see what amazing things she creates.
Matticus-
He writes on his blog each day like it is a mission. I am often in awe of the number of posts he makes and the quality. He loves movies and movie dialogue and each Friday he leaves a post about it. He has a great sense of humor, but his best quality to me is the friendship and feedback he has shared with me on my work. He is a relatively new Dad, and with a young family I wonder how he finds the time, but I am glad he does. Reading his blog is a trip to an enchanted land, I encourage you to make the trip.
Sass and Balderdash
Written by the witty, sarcastic and sometimes inappropriate Katie, this website has never met a topic it wouldn’t address. Katie is funny and makes me laugh and usually think. I think she writes more to women than men, but I have honestly learned more about how women think about everything from shoes to working out in the gym. This blog is one that I try to read every day because it is worth it, if you like intelligent, witty observations about life then this is the blog for you. Katie is awesome even though she lives in Chicago, which is known for…………wind.
The Camel Life
This is a relatively new blog on my must-read list but Breezy K who writes this blog has won me over recently by writing on a regular basis and talking about her “dynamic” life in Canada. She writes with a lot of funny images, but deep down her topics are interesting and even though she is from Nova Scotia, I think that it is very close to my experience in living in Maine. She is funny, insightful and definitely doesn’t take herself very seriously. The reason I feel this is a must read blog, is that it just entertains me. From the “witty” way she plays on words, to the perspective of diet and exercise. I always learn something and most often laugh as well.
Tranquil Dreams
This is kind of unfair because Kim who writes this blog is one of my favorite people. She visited Maine this summer and I met her and her boyfriend and we had a lovely time. Her blog is a combination of reviews, recipes, and thoughts but what wins me over is that Kim has always been so nice and supportive of me. She leaves positive and supportive comments, and I like that. This blog is well worth checking out and reading.
There are of course many other blogs and bloggers I love to read and learn from each and every day. I am certainly grateful to experience all that you do each day! Thank you for being so wonderful.
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Today I am expressing my gratitude for Growing up in Greenville, Maine. There have been few influences on my life greater than this. The foundation of who I am today was built on the streets, in the school, in my home and with the people I shared the experience with.
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Small Town To Say the Least, Greenville, Maine
Greenville was and is a very small town, but it was the only town I knew as home as a child. There are two sides of the coin when you
live in a small town. On one side people are supportive of you in all that you do. On the other side, it is difficult to live your life without having everyone know your business.
That is the fate of a small town, for me, those issues were never a factor because I loved living there and growing up with the people I grew up with. A small town gave me the foundation to think, create and write. In many ways, I have never felt as much like myself as when I was there.
Friends Forever
It is an odd thing about friendship that it often flows in and out of your life like the tides in the sea. The shared experience that you
build your friendship around often determines the length of the friendship. Believe it or not, the people that I went to elementary school with in Greenville, Maine are still some of the dearest friends I have.
There was something about working our way through the growth of our youth that allowed us to bond. With very few exceptions, today when I see someone from that era, we can talk and carry on in a fashion like no time has passed. I believe this is true because we knew each other before life taught us hard lessons, and gave us difficult things to deal with. At the core of each of us is that person we were when we were young. I think I look at those friends with the eyes of understanding, that I know who they are, and they know me. There is no judgment on choices we have made, or what we have become, it is what each of us was that I remember.
When I hear from one of these people on Facebook, or should I see them in person, I am transported back to a time in the 1970’s before cell phones, computers, and video games, when we actually played outside, every day. These were my brothers and sisters and still are today. That is an experience I am extremely grateful for.
The Town Itself
If I took you on a tour of 1970’s Greenville, we would walk the mile
from the school to my house in the Junction, and on the way there, most every car that passed we would recognize. It seemed like I knew everyone. We would walk to Breton’s store which is still there today and buy the candy treat of our choice with the quarter I had squirreled away for just such an occasion. My parents never worried that I would be harmed or abducted. They told me to never talk to strangers and in Greenville, it was easy not to do, I knew everyone even as a kid.
If we went into the downtown area, there were a number of old haunts which still exist today at least enough to let you meet the ghost of my memories. It doesn’t matter if I went to Jamison’s Store or to Harris Drug Store, I always seemed to get what I was looking for. I was always with a friend or my brother and we were always on the go, heading to a pickup game of some sort.
Moving, The End of That Life
As I was finishing the 7th grade, I found out my family was moving. I didn’t tell anyone because I think I felt if I just ignored it then the move would never take place. I did not want to move. I loved my friends and my life there. After moving I picked up the pieces of my shattered reality and moved forward, but in my heart, I will always carry that place, the people, and our experiences there in Greenville, Maine. I am grateful for them all!
Day 11 of my special gratitude project has me thinking of music. Music plays such a big part in most peoples lives, it is no different to me. The music sets the mood and can latch on to a memory and allow you to be transported to a particular place and time simply by hearing the notes. I almost always put a song at the end of every post, not because they need it, but it makes it better to read if you listen to the song as you read. Try it.
My favorite songs change each and every week depending on the randomness of what is happening in life. Since I am feeling particularly grateful for music I will give you my top ten songs of the week. They are random and not specific to genre. A song can be number 1 one week and gone from the countdown the next. Enjoy!! Be grateful.
(Click the title to SEE THE VIDEO)
Wake Me Up- Avici-This song just hits me right in the heart. The message of looking for yourself, resonates. Give it a listen and you will feel better!! Go ahead. Click it baby!
Chillin’ It- Cole Swindell- Any song that reminds me of my young self I can’t get enough of. I am a country boy, I was raised in Maine, I had no choice. This song reminds me of those those days a long time ago, spending time with that special someone, rollin’ with the music.
A Message- Cold Play- This song caught my mind this week and hasn’t let go. I think we are all continually sending messages. Some overtly like blog writing, and many more subtle ones. I think we all want our message to be received and understood. Get the message? My song is love, is love unknown and I’ve got to get that message home!
Radio- Darius Rucker- Not only am I a huge Darius fan, and have been for many years, this song, is one that again takes me back to my youth. Really all we needed was a car with a radio to make us feel really cool. It is great to feel cool. Even when you know you are not. Go ahead go riding down that highway.
Ships In The Night- Matt Kierney– Aren’t we all just ships in the night, that pass without knowing anything about each other. It is a waste of time to not connect, especially with someone you could be great friends with. Don’t be a ship in the night. Good song.
Over You – Daughtry- This is an older song that I have been able to relate to lately. I never saw it coming, should have started running a long, long time ago, and I never thought I’d doubt you or be better off without you, more than you, more than you, more than you know!! Give it a listen if you are trying to forget someone. It helps.
Mine Would Be You- Blake Shelton-Because we all have, guilty pleasures, and those that know us better than anyone else, and we don’t often say it when we have the chance. My finest hour, my wildest dream come true, mine would be you!
8. Here I Stand- Sonny Rey– I heard this song on an episode of touch, which is about how we are all connected. I believe that for better or worse this is true and this song captures the essence of my feelings. Here I am, I am just a man, here I stand. I’m doing everything I can to show the world who I am. Here I stand.
A Drop in the Ocean- Ron Pope- You never know why a song attaches to your mind, but this one grabbed mine probably because………it’s a drop in the ocean, a change in the weather. I was hopin’ that you and I would end up together!! Whatever the reason, have a listen and be careful it will get in your head.
Sweet Annie- Zac Browne Band- This is a beautiful song, that makes you want to know someone named Annie. But haven’t we all known someone who makes us feel like this? Here’s to all the sweet, pretty, kind, beautiful women I have ever met.
There it is, take a listen and I hope you are as grateful for the music in your life as I am.
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My voice, for whatever reason, could not speak these thoughts or express the feelings I felt, for many years this was the way it was, until one day, I found that I had a voice. This voice was not an uttered word, but a written one.
What an amazing liberation that was, to free these observations inside of me, about people, places, life, religion, hope, fear and everything else in between.
I have been grateful to relay my observations about other people and in doing so, observations about myself that needed to be expressed, needed to be shared, even if nobody ever read them, by offering them to the world on their own merit, at least they took a form outside of myself.
Many times I have wondered what this sharing would lead to? Anything? Are there others who think like me? This voice of expression is honest and from the heart and it is truly me. It feels sometimes when I write something about gratitude or feelings I feel free, totally free from all of the expectations and restraints of life and of others.
It should be easy to leave these behind, the negative voices in your head, to follow the true voice inside your heart. Writing has allowed me to see this voice, hopefully someday soon
it will help me to trust it. As each day comes, I feel so much hope in my heart that this will be the day that magic happens for me. Yet that is determined by me.
I am grateful for the ability to write and express what I feel inside myself. Each small step to understanding life, or other people or the Universe and how we all work together is amazing and my vehicle for this exploration is my voice and that voice is to write what is inside my heart.
Being yourself is the scariest thing you can be because there is no facade to hide behind, the world can see you and judge you and that can be difficult. Yet it is only in being ourselves that our true talents can show, I am grateful to at least be on the path to this truth.
The lessons that nature teaches us are on display all around us each and every day. All we have to do is listen and being fortunate enough to live in an area the has a distinct four seasons, I am lucky to experience these changes and I am grateful for it.
For many years I am ashamed to say that I never really enjoyed or contemplated too much about it, but lately, I can’t help but be amazed and think about all that the changes of the season bring to the world. Right now it is autumn in Maine and that means that each and every day you will see a wide array of colors, red, yellow, orange and even brown. This change where once there was only green makes you think and often about gratitude.
On the Surface
Seeing the leaves change is a pretty miraculous thing. To think that nature knows exactly how to work itself for the trees to survive is amazing, and further than that there is the show they put on. I have been fortunate enough to see, bright-colored leaves reflecting on the still waters of a fall lake surface. It brings many thoughts to my mind as I look at the colors and understand them for what they are. Harbingers of what is to come and we merely need to listen to hear their warnings and to learn from them.
Change Is Constant
One of the best reminders of fall is that change is happening all around us all the time.
You may not be able to see it visually, but everything is changing all the time. These variations are usually never as visual as the leaves but they are as real. Each relationship, job, and personal journey is changing all the time.
No matter what you do and no matter what you think of your current circumstances, it matters little because soon they will be different because things are always changing. Just like the fall will eventually give up its life to the oncoming winter, so must we learn to let go of our attachments to this life.
It is the values of these changes that make them appear good or bad. Yet aren’t they simply just experiences? The fall season helps me to contemplate and understand the changes that are happening in life all the time. I have a gratefulness inside for all of the changes that have happened in my life and that growth is not possible without change.
Endings Are Just Endings
Another great thought of fall is the twilight of the year, the ending of summer and how this season represents an ending in our lives. The phrase “The Autumn of our Lives”, captures this effectively.
I have a problem with this phrase because we simply do not know with any kind of certainty when this life is going to end. it may be over in five minutes or it may last another 30-40 years. Nobody knows.
When you look at the fall it will have an ending, just as all of our lives will, but there is a hidden promise in the fall. It is there in every nostalgic feeling and thought, that eventually, the spring and beautiful summer will come again. We just need to be patient. All things will eventually end, that is the way that the universe works. All things have a beginning, a middle and an ending.
This is not a bad thing, it is only a thing. So it teaches you to enjoy the summer, or the fall or the winter or whatever season you are experiencing right now because that is all you have right now. There may never be another summer to look forward to, so not completely enjoying today is a foolhardy choice.
The fall makes me grateful for each and every day and what it has to offer.
There seem to be two different mindsets people have when it comes to abundance. Either you believe there is enough of everything or you are worried there is not enough for everyone. Each of these mentalities leads to a certain experience in your life one of plenty or one of lack. We seem to experience in life, exactly what we believe in. The law of abundance states that there is more than enough in the Universe and nothing is limited. This is a very difficult concept for many to accept because we see perceived lack all around us every day. But that is only a perception, the reality is yet to be discovered and lies deep in your attitude and beliefs. How you choose to view things is going to dictate your feelings about abundance.
The Law of Abundance– There is more than enough in the Universe, nothing is limited.
Money is Our Issue
In today’s world, money is the energy that makes things go. We look at collecting as much money as possible to provide relief, happiness, and freedom. But so much of how we view money depends on what we were taught and experienced as children. Your attitude about abundance starts right there in your youth. We learn our basic beliefs from our parents, relatives, society, peers, and others we have contact with when we are young. These ideas will be formed by the time we are 10 years old and many of the beliefs we accumulate come from there.
As soon as you believe money is an issue for you, panic and/or fear that you won’t have enough run your life and no matter how much you have, there will be a fear that it is not going to be enough. Money becomes the focus of everything rather than on what you really want. Most want freedom, time, travel, experiences, etc. These things are not money, although it is perceived that we would be free to do all we desire if money wasn’t an issue. But we are the ones who make it an issue. Our attitude dictates our success with and around money.
Abundance and Joy
It is common sense to look at someone who has done what you want to do and emulate them. But when it comes to abundance and happiness, you need to learn to blaze your own trail. If you do what someone else is doing simply to make money it probably won’t provide both success and joy. Joy comes from within when we are pursuing our purpose in life. Whatever that is to you. Follow your desire and the money will follow. Most who hear this statement immediately list a lot of reasons this couldn’t possibly work for them. My favorite is “You can’t eat your purpose.”
When you approach something from that perspective, with a list of reasons you will fail, then most often you are going to fail. That is just too much negative energy to overcome from within yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself and give your dreams a chance, nobody else is going to. There is enough in the world to go around. Be grateful for what you have, truly in your heart and more will follow.
Abundance and Lack
Lack seems to be a man-made commodity. The world creates plenty of food, enough to feed everyone, but it isn’t distributed to others because we have a man-made system of commerce. Food has a value and if that value isn’t paid there is a fear the system will fall down. So the fear of not getting all they can causes lack. Greed causes lack. As people look out for themselves and accumulate way more than they could ever need. This selfishness leads to lack because many feel that other people are not their problem.
This could all be changed if as a collective human race we decided that all lives were of value. Not just a select few. The fact is that they are and it doesn’t matter where they are from, what version of God they worship, the color of their skin, or their age, we are all the same and have a value. Abundance will come when we see the most valuable commodity in the world is the people. All people. Be Grateful for what you already have and more will follow. Money, love, freedom, creativity or whatever it is you want.
Abundance Mindset
To allow abundance into our lives we need to have the right mindset. That mindset is that anything is possible. Know what you want and believe that it is possible for you. Not just in the realm of money but in all areas of your life. Want abundance in relationships? Believe that it can happen to you. One of the most talked about forces behind abundance is the practice of giving. To give freely without the thought of return increases your personal energy and takes away the feelings of desperation and fear that repel things from your life.
Look at your personal beliefs about having money, being rich, or just being successful. Take steps to take any negative, limiting beliefs you are entertaining. Your beliefs about the world dictate the reality you experience. Building positive thoughts, emotions, words, and actions about having abundance in your life will bring it into your life. Stop listening to negative messages about yourself and recognize that you can achieve what you want. The abundance of money, relationships, and experiences can come your way.
“Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things.” –Eric Lutterworth
“To open to The Law of Abundance, we must be willing to become aware of where we focus our attention and what we believe to be true.” – Jennifer O’Neill
“Wealth flows from energy and ideas.” –William Feather