Category Archives: gratitude

Being Grateful – Even in the Hard Times

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It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude! 

Feel free to click here (or below) to learn more about our Gratitude Project. 
Okay – now for today’s post:
We can all feel grateful when things are going well in our lives, but can we still be grateful and find the good in the seemingly not-so-good parts, too? That’s where the real soul searching comes in and the challenges begin to surface.
Here is an example to show how this can work:
Imagine that you are in a job you really can’t stand. You get up each morning and begrudgingly get ready for work and make yourself drive there – you know that the work itself isn’t your passion, the people you work with aren’t who you would normally choose to spend your days with, and this is certainly not the vision you had for your life. But you do it day in and day out because you have to pay your bills, right?
Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it?
But… take this same situation and imagine seeing it through a lens of gratitude and positivity. Each morning when you wake up you express your gratitude for having a house to wake up in, a job to go to, the security of a paycheck, a car to drive you there. Then when you get there, you express your gratitude for knowing that working at this job brings clarity to you for your future. By seeing what you don’t want to do, you can be more clear about what you do want to do by contrast. And having this knowledge gets you one step closer to living the life you want to live. And that is something to be grateful for! And you can start empathizing with your coworkers and imagine that they might just be in the same boat you’re in – just biding their time and clarifying their vision until they find the courage to take the leap toward pursuing their own passion. And this will make them more relatable to you, which will make the days much more enjoyable.

Can you see the difference?
We choose how we react to every situation in our lives. 
And it doesn’t mean that we’re seeing through rose-colored lenses at every given moment, but it can make your life much easier if you begin to show your gratitude for everything around you – even the tough situations where gratitude doesn’t seem easy to find.

Take some time today and think of something that’s not going as well as you would like in your life (your job, relationship, health, emotional wellbeing, etc.). Write about the situation as specifically as you can. For the first part of the assignment, write about it without censoring yourself – gripe, whine, get it all out. Then in the second part, rewrite it through the lens of gratitude and appreciation. Write about all of the positive things that are happening in your life because of this situation. Keep in mind that you may have to dig really deep to come up with things you are grateful for. But I guarantee it will be worth it, you will feel better, and you will see the situation in a whole different light.

And wouldn’t that be great?

Make Someone’s Day

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A writing prompt from our Journaling Further Within book:
If you could wave a magic wand over one person’s life, who would you choose? 
How would you help them?

The great part about this question is that the possibilities are truly endless – you have a magic wand, after all! Dream big and really think about how great it would feel to help someone in need! 
After you’ve spent some time brainstorming, take some time to write about what you came up with. 
And even if you don’t have a magic wand in real life, you can always help someone with what you do have: your words. You can tell someone how much they mean to you today, give someone a compliment, thank someone.
Spread the love today – we all know a little bit of love and gratitude goes a very long way! 

Gratitude List and Some Kitty Love

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There is always so much to be grateful for. Even in the toughest of times, you can always find even the littlest thing to be thankful for. And studies have shown that expressing your gratitude daily helps create a happier mindset, which in turn leads to a healthier, longer life.

You may want to spend some time today and write a list of what you are grateful for. When Dan and I first met, we each kept “Things That Make Me Happy Lists.” We would continue to add to them – and we had tons of entries. From the bigger things (like each other) to the smaller things (like someone letting you go ahead of them in the grocery line). These lists are great to post somewhere in your home where you will see them often. And be sure to update them frequently, too as your interests change. If you are ever having a rough day, you can go back to your happy list, and I guarantee it will immediately cheer you up. 
***
Today I am grateful for my kitties, Biddle and Buncom. 
It is their 2-year birthday, and they have added so much joy to our lives!
(Get ready for some kitty cuteness…)
A once-in-a-lifetime moment…they really aren’t friends.
Cutie Pie Biddle
Sweet kitty Buncom
Here they are on the day they were born.

 Two years ago, we had just lost our sweet cat, Pato, after a 2-year battle with kidney failure. We were absolutely devastated and heartbroken. He was an amazing cat, and our lives revolved around taking care of him. We knew that we needed a change, so we moved to Oregon a few weeks later – ready to make a fresh start. Soon after we were settled into our new home, we knew we were ready to adopt another cat. That’s when Biddle and Buncom appeared. They were feral cats who were born in a snowbank. A kind hearted man found them and quickly warmed them up (Biddle was freezing and almost gone.). He took care of them and the mama cat and really saved their lives. He wanted to find the perfect home for the kittens and so many people applied. When I saw their picture, I knew they were our babies. And so we quickly got in the car and drove hours to go meet them. Thankfully he knew that it was meant to be, and we took them home.

They are both such amazing cats with such different personalities. Biddle is a true Mama’s boy – he follows me everywhere, talks all of the time, and acts almost human-like. Buncom is a wild man – he is a sweetheart on his own terms, quite the baby, and very athletic. The feral genes stuck with him more than Biddle.

 I will be forever grateful that they came into our lives when they did. Dan and I both work from home, and they add countless hours of joy to our lives. And their dog-friend, Xena, has even learned to put up with their crazy antics. 🙂

When we met them, they were just 3 pounds. Now Buncom is 14 pounds and Biddle is 15 pounds – and because their mom was a Ragdoll, we have learned that they will grow until they are 4 years old – big boys!

They love forts, playing with string, chasing each other, being held (Biddle anytime – Buncom when he’s in the mood), talking to us, drinking water from the bathtub, racing through the house, fetching, playing our made up games, and just being around us.
I am constantly in awe of them and how much they have grown. I am grateful each and every day that they are a part of my life.

Happy birthday, boys! 🙂

Being Able to Roll With the Changes

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Change is inevitable. 

If you are a planner and like to be in control, this can be an unsettling fact. But if you can learn to roll with and embrace change, it can truly be seen as a welcome and much needed adjustment to your life when it appears.

We are going through some pretty major changes with our business, and I have to keep reminding myself that change is a good thing – knowing that without it we wouldn’t grow, learn lessons, or expand our horizons.

Our changes involve moving more toward our passion of writing and helping others – and away from anything that doesn’t fit into that vision.

This means that I am in the process of saying goodbye to a lot of products that have been with us for years. They have become old friends – and I have been very grateful to each of them.

Saying goodbye to them, though, means that I will clear up space in my studio (and my mind) for what I am truly passionate about – which is very exciting!

So if you, too, are going through a transition in your life – it might be a good idea to take a step back and write about your thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams regarding where you see your life going. Take some time to explore any feelings of uncertainty and unsettledness. It is completely normal to feel this way. It may also be helpful to write how your life will look after you have gone through this transition and are living your new life. This will be a great motivator for you to push through and not turn back because it feels uncomfortable.

Change is good for us – it helps us become our best selves.

And that is a great thing.